Cullen's Fine Goods
by Heather Mythic Bitch Chandler
Summary: Bella Swan is the epitome of a good employee. She's had her job at Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium for almost six years. Nothing could ever jeopardize her position... except maybe a non-fraternization policy and an incredibly attractive boss.
1. Chapter One

**A/N: Well, this is a terrible idea. I definitely should not be writing, but screw it, right? Have fun with this fluffy, funny (hopefully), cutie patoot of a story.**

 **Disclaimer: I own only my tablet and the song in my heart.**

Bella Swan prided herself on being consistently punctual. In the nearly six years she had been working at Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium, she could count the number of times she had been late to work – without an excuse – on one hand. She was always, always, always on time, come hell or high water, with coffee in hand and a spring in her step. She cared about her job, and about the customers, but she especially cared about the people she worked for. And for that reason she was an exceptional employee.

She had been hired at Cullen's Fine Goods when she was just eighteen. It had been her first and only job, and her lack of experience was a hurdle she had been sure she wouldn't clear. She had been in and out of the general manager's office so many times that Rosalie had once joked that Bella saw her more than Emmett – her husband, and CFG's CFO – did. At the time, it had shocked Bella. Rosalie almost never joked. She was cool and collected, and before that comment, Bella could not recall seeing Rosalie smile… ever.

"I'm sorry," she had said, shifting uncomfortably in the chair facing Rosalie's desk. "I know I keep screwing up, and that I'm taking time away from your other duties when you have to correct me." She trapped her lower lip between her teeth, and her eyes focused on the wood grain in her boss's desk. She hated disappointing Rosalie, because Rosalie was scary. She frightened the crap out of Bella. Every time she heard her walkie-talkie crackle she jumped, anticipating the stern voice of her boss. Sometimes the call was just Mike, asking her to do some menial task, and sometimes it was her coworkers, asking pricing questions because Bella had a strangely good memory for the store inventory, but whenever it came alive with static, she had a split-second moment of fear that it would be Rose. And about two minutes ago, she had been right.

"Bella. Please look up," Rosalie instructed. Bella did so, and saw Rosalie staring at her intently. Her hands were folded under her chin and her elbows rested on the desk. There was a small furrow in her brow, but she didn't seem angry (at least Bella knew she didn't look the way she had when Bella had gotten scammed by a customer and had lost one hundred dollars), just concerned, which made Bella jittery. Perhaps this was the condolence meeting where they finally fired her for her apparent incompetence. "You do this thing, where you avoid eye contact when you're upset. It's incredibly distracting. I didn't mean to upset you with my joke."

"But I'm such an idiot! I knew I should have put the date on the hold slip, and I didn't. I was so concerned with making sure I did it myself, that I didn't wonder if I should ask someone for help." Bella had crossed her arms across her torso, holding herself together as she shifted again in the seat, bringing her left leg up to rest underneath the right. She was pretty much positive at this point that she was going to get fired; she was going to miss Esme, and Alice would be so disappointed in her for being unable to make it work. "I don't understand why you guys keep me around."

"Bella. You're a fine employee," she said softly, her tone full of kindness. Rosalie dropped her hands to rest palms down on the desk. "You make small, inconsequential mistakes. Everyone does. Not putting a start date on a hold slip is, in the grand scheme of the store, not hurting anyone. Jeremy did it last week and we didn't even mention it, we just put the date we realized it was missing on the slip." Her lips were twitching at the corners, like she was trying to smother a smile. She lifted one perfectly manicured eyebrow at Bella, expectant.

Bella, smart girl that she was, took the bait.

"But… but! Why did I get called in, then?!" Now she was not only confused, but angry. Why should she be treated any differently than the other employees? Should she be fired for a small mistake that hadn't even been discussed with another employee? Was there some sort of wrongful termination case she could make? Bella was pre-law, she should know this. Rosalie just sat there, smiling at her. What was with her? Was she really so pleased to have an excuse to be rid of Bella? She had been so sure that she was an anomaly – doing things incorrectly or unacceptably to earn her boss's scorn, but now she was just upset that she was being unfairly targeted. Did Rosalie hate her that much? Why? She wanted her answers, dammit.

"Simple, really: we like you," Rosalie said bluntly, and allowed herself to smile then, and it illuminated the room. She now looked more like the young newlywed she was than an Icelandic supermodel like she usually did. She was softer, somehow, and her smile made Bella want to smile. Want to, mind you, if she weren't at that very moment confusing the ever-loving daylights out of the poor, disgruntled employee seated across from her, mouth agape in shock. "Don't look so surprised, you must have noticed?"

"No I really cannot say that I did." She had been absolutely positive of three things prior to this meeting: first, that she would never tire of the smell of the old books in the back of the store, second, that Rosalie Cullen nee Hale absolutely hated her, and third, that she was utterly and irrevocably in love with iced lattes. She was so incredibly sure that the woman across from her hated her that it had become an absolute truth, like death, taxes, and Alice's unwavering fashion advice.

"Well, Esme adores you. And whom Esme adores, Carlisle adores. They see how you are with the customers. You care. You take extra time to get them the best deal they can get, and you remember them next time they come in. Several of them will wait for you to be available to assist them, and you engage in memorable conversations with them. Esme loves it, and she loves you. She once told me that every time she talks to you her day becomes a little brighter. Your attitude is infectious, and you make people feel noticed and appreciated."

"But, I don't get it then," Bella said, scooting her chair closer to Rosalie's desk, leaning her forearms next to Rose's, and shaking her head. "Why am I always in here?"

"Precisely because we like you. You're a great employee. I need you to be perfect. We have plans for you, and we need to make sure that everyone knows that you're the best customer service rep we've got." Rosalie patted the back of Bella's hand, then tapped it with one finger to regain her attention, ducking her head down to plant herself in Bella's eye line. "We want to start you training the new hires. You've been here for almost a year, and I think it's time. Emmett just sent over a new batch of applications and he specifically requested you to train," she said confidently. The conviction in her voice was very hard to argue with.

"I… am very confused." Bella lowered her head again. Hadn't she been in this office for a reprimand? And instead she was being given more responsibility? Her entire view of Cullen's Fine Goods was crumpling. She couldn't decide if she was elated or apprehensive. Perhaps both? Cautious optimism, she decided, that was what she was feeling. If she was wrong about Rosalie, she was definitely wrong about being fired.

"Don't be. We love having you here, and we want you to stay with us through your schooling. We think adding a few responsibilities as we go – a new title, a raise or two – is the right incentive to make that happen." She turned her hand palm up under Bella's, and lifted their hands together in front of Bella's downcast eyes. "We're a team now, okay? Cullens and the Swan." Bella had finally smiled then, allowing herself to believe that she could be part of such a team.

And a team they had been for the five years since. Under Rosalie and Alice Cullen's tutelage, Bella had sprung out of her shell and learned to be comfortable at work. She joked with customers, allowing her dry sense of humor and blatant sarcasm run rampant. She and Emmett argued about sports, she went shopping with Alice, she had attended Rosalie's baby shower. Esme Cullen invited her to dinner with them at least once a week, and Carlisle was always finding books she'd like in the manuscript section of the store to give to her. She felt like one of the family, accepted and loved by people who more than deserved her love and respect in return. She was such a fixture at Cullen's Fine Goods that she barely even needed her name tag. Bella was the team lead, she made far more than any retail employee in the area, and she was a close, personal friend of the Cullen family. Esme even forced Bella to call her "Mom" once she had moved in with their daughter Alice two years ago.

It had been the natural thing to do: both of their leases were up, Alice hated her roommate, and Bella wanted to have actual walls instead of planting her bed in the center of the room. Most importantly, she loved Alice like her very own sister and from the day she had walked into Cullen's Fine Goods the two women had been inseparable. Something about that tiny woman just drew people in, and Bella had been no exception. Her bubbly spirit and unflappable loyalty had matched Bella's devotion and understated personality. They were like an old classic comedy team: slapstick and the straight man. Or woman, as it were. She had marched up to Bella on her first day to introduce herself, and when Bella told Alice that she loved her Louboutin shoes, Alice had announced: "This is my best friend now! You're all replaced!"

She had stayed true to the sentiment, taking Bella with her on lunch breaks, inviting her to parties, and taking her to Happy Hour the second she turned twenty-one. Alice was Bella's very best friend, and she genuinely loved living with her. She did not, however, love the late nights that they sometimes experienced when Alice felt like "going out and getting dirty." Which is exactly what they had done last night till the wee hour of 2AM.

Which is why Bella slept through her alarm.

When she pried her makeup-crusted eyes open, the clock read 8:20 AM. A full thirty five minutes past the time she should have been awake.

 _Shit_.

She threw off her blue duvet and hurtled pell-mell towards the bathroom, managing to trip only once as she rounded the doorway and fell into the hall. She picked herself up and flung herself into the shower, not bothering with setting temperatures or shower head settings. She ended up with boiling hot water in the massage setting, a combination that should never exist. She hot-footed and yelped and danced through her hygienic process, cursing at God and Alice and dance clubs. Once she was clean, she quickly dried herself and took a peek into the steamy mirror.

 _Jesus H. Christ! I look like a raccoon. Or the Joker. Or the Winter freaking Soldier._

She grabbed a makeup wipe from Alice's side of the vanity and quickly rid herself of the offending eye paint that her terror of a roommate had insisted she wear last night, and which she had forgotten to remove in her tipsy state before falling soundly, stupidly asleep. Why she ever allowed Alice to put makeup on her was a mystery that even she could not solve. When her roommate pouted and whined, Bella fell in line like she'd been hypnotized. There was no logical explanation for it. When all of the makeup was gone, she snagged her toothbrush and got to work on her oral hygiene. Since she was late, she decided to multitask: she went to the kitchen and popped in her designated late-morning breakfast – toaster waffles. She spit toothpaste into the kitchen sink and continued to brush on the way to her room. She was greeted with the sight of her mountainous pile of clean clothing that she had neglected to put away in their proper places, because Alice had said, "Laundry will be here when you're an old maid! Throw on something hot and move your ass!" Looking now at the massive mess of clothing, Bella was at a loss. What to do, what to do? Search for something good, or grab the first pieces of black clothing she could find? Run the risk of being late, but look good, or roll the metaphorical dice?

Hoping she didn't come up snake eyes, she reached in and grabbed black clothing, shoving it onto her body without any sense of grace or propriety, just speed. Propriety and grace were for suckers anyway. When she opened her closet door to get her CFG navy blazer and a pair of shoes, she spied herself in the mirror. She had ended up in a wrap shirt with a peplum hem and black skinny jeans. _Good enough_. She threw on her blazer and tugged her damp hair out of the back of it, running her fingers through it to work out any knots. It was going to dry in unmanageable waves, but there was nothing she could do about it at this point, she was far too late as it was. She hopped out on one foot to the kitchen as she tugged on her socks. Grabbing the waffles and a plate, she popped one fluffy Eggo in her mouth and made her way to Alice's room.

She slammed the door open, not very much caring to wake her friend gently after her tequila-soaked night. This was all Alice's fault, after all. Rosie always hated tardiness, and Bella always hated the look on Rosie's face when she was late. So, she hopped over to Alice's bed, one hand struggling with her black Converse low-tops and the other holding Ali's waffle, and flopped down unceremoniously, shaking the entire thing like an earthquake had hit. "Ali!"

"Ungh," came Alice's groggy reply, from underneath a mountain of blankets and decorative pillows. Bella could make out one side of Alice's face from underneath her hiding hole, and was pleased to see that makeup ran down in it streaks. Good. Serves her right for forcing Bella to go out and making her late. Alice would have an absolute cow when she saw the damage done, shrieking about the aging process and the dangers of sleeping in your makeup. Bella was sorely sorry that she would miss it; Alice's rants were consistent entertainment.

"Here's breakfast, you drunk. I left you a glass of water last night, and there's Advil in the medicine cabinet, but I'm late and don't have the time or frankly inclination to get it for you, considering I'm only late because you insisted we go out for literally no reason last night." Bella finished tying on her shoes and stood, leaving the waffle just out of Alice's reach on the gigantic bed. "I'm taking the car, I'll grab you for your shift when I'm on lunch."

"You're the devil," Alice said, her voice almost entirely muffled by the piles upon piles of bedding weighing down on her.

"And you love me," Bella replied. "You Satanist." She strode over to the door, turning back to see her friend helplessly pawing around the covers in search of the waffle. She let out a short laugh. "Make us something good for lunch, okay Ali? I'll be here at eleven thirty." She turned on her heel and slammed the door to Alice's room for good measure.

" _Demon!_ " Alice had shouted at her through the door, meaning that Bella had successfully exacerbated her hangover. Bella, for one, never got a hangover. It was her one advantage on Alice and she flaunted it often. The only downside was that she remembered every stupid thing she had done while drunk, like last night when she had done a tequila shot off of Alice's bare shoulder. _Dammit_.

Bella just laughed at Alice's pain and finished the last bite of her waffle. She rushed toward the living room and grabbed her keys off the peg by the door and her laptop bag from the entry where she'd dumped it after work yesterday. She stepped out into the crisp morning air and checked her phone for the time.

8:37.

Seventeen minutes?! A new personal best! She still had time for coffee! She quickly switched from her home screen to her Starbucks app, sending off her order. She settled into the driver's seat of the sleek Chevy sedan that she and Alice shared and smiled. She had a good feeling about today, despite its disastrous beginning. It was going to be a good day, she could feel it running through her veins like small electric tingles. Maybe that was caffeine withdrawl, though. Hedging her bets, she drove off in the direction of Starbucks.

*

Twenty minutes, one venti iced hazelnut soy latte with three pumps toffee nut and light ice, and a miraculous streak of all green lights, Bella walked through the doors of Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium, struggling to put her keys back into her laptop bag. Despite being incredibly clumsy, she knew the layout of the store and could probably make it through unscathed in her sleep, so she wasn't too concerned about tripping or stumbling while she wrestled with her keys, coffee, and bag instead of watching where she was going.

Her mistake there was forgetting that human beings sometimes roam the store and cannot be accounted for by knowing the layout. Which is exactly why when her boss, Emmett Cullen, rounded the corner, she ran smack into him. "Whoa there, Edelman. Slow it down, you don't have to make it all the way to the goal in ten seconds." Emmett reached out to steady Bella as she started to fall, placing one hand on her arm and hoisting up her laptop bag with the other. Bella had clung to the coffee in her hand, desperate to save her precious nectar of the cosmos safe from her own two feet. Stupid, large, boss rounding corners at speeds comparable to those of Usain Bolt.

"Oh, shut it Gronk, you're just mad because Brady likes me better." Bella and Emmett both shared a deep abiding love for the New England Patriots. It was what had started their own personal friendship, just as good customer service had started hers and Rose's and fashion (and Bella's total personal lack thereof) had started hers and Alice's. Emmett was fascinated by the team's ability to remain on top of the league despite new team matchups and players entering each year, and he idolized Bill Belichick's management style. Bella just liked Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski in their tight football pants. But her taste for the players quickly evolved into a taste for the game, and she and Emmett always watched the Pats together with Rosie and Alice on Sundays. Rose had a small, general understanding of the game, while Alice still called touchdowns "scores". They had even come up with nicknames for each other. Bella was Edelman, because of her obsession for the wide receiver, and Emmett was Gronk, because, well, he was massive and goofy, just like Rob Gronkowski. They also pretty consistently referred to Rosalie as Brady, because she called the shots. They even got her the jersey for game days.

Emmett laughed at Bella's implication that his own wife liked her better than him. "Whatever, Bells. What's the hurry? You're not trying to set the land speed record for coffee-carrying, are ya?" He smiled his wide, bright grin, flashing Bella his dimples. Bella just rolled her eyes and kept pace toward the office. Emmett laughed and darted after her, easily matching her stride with his far longer legs. "Well, hey there's a surprise for you in the office! Just came in this morning."

Bella paused and finally managed to shove her keys into her bag. She turned toward Emmett, cautious but excited. Perhaps there was a new manuscript that Carlisle had gotten her? Maybe Alice had ordered something for the clothing department but thought it would be better suited to Bella? Esme was always going through the inventory to find things her children would like, and she included Bella as well; maybe she had found something? Emmett just stared back, smiling wide, waiting for her curiosity to get the best of her.

It did.

"Well, then, what is it?" she asked, raising one eyebrow up at him. Sometimes Emmett's surprises were good, but sometimes they were horrible. Once he had told Alice he had a surprise for her and the only thing he had done is wrap everything in her office in toilet paper. He had also bought Bella some sort of weird sex toy as a gag gift last Christmas, and when she had jokingly complained to Carlisle that it was unprofessional and gross, he just told her to take it up with H.R. The only problem with that was that Emmett was H.R. at Cullen's Fine Goods, as well as being CFO. Emmett had laughed for a solid five minutes after, while the Cullens either giggled or tried and failed – like Esme – to hide their amusement as Bella pouted and threw the offending "present" in the garbage. The thing about Emmett was that even when he did things like this, he always managed to make up for it. He had also gotten Bella an extremely rare copy of _Wuthering Heights_ that Christmas, but waited until well after the sex toy fiasco to give it to her. And he had cleaned Alice's office for her and gotten her the shipment of vintage Givenchy that she wanted for the store after the toilet paper incident. So while this new surprise may be awful, there was bound to be a silver lining. She took a sip of her latte as they approached the door to the office and Emmett's grin widened.

"You've got a new boss."

Bella groaned. Since her first boss, Mike, had left a year and a half into her time at Cullen's Fine Goods, they had been through six customer service managers. One guy only lasted a month, but to be fair, the team had pretty much scared the crap out of him the entirety of Halloween a week before he resigned. The customer service department was chock full of women, and for some reason, they could never find anyone who could manage that much estrogen. People either got fed up with the in-fighting, tired of angry customers, or felt usurped by Bella, though she tried to be accommodating. She couldn't help it if the team relied on her, she was the only consistent authority figure in customer service. She knew the department backwards and could answer any and all questions. She had free range to authorize discounts, approve checks, and verify returns. In fact, most of the team saw _her_ as their manager, although Bella was adamant that she was not. She couldn't devote that amount of time to the store, she had to finish law school. As a result, most people didn't last in the position very long. The other departments called it cursed, like the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts. Often they would refer to customer service managers as Lupin or Moody.

"Now, now Bells, no complaints," Emmett said as he opened the office door for them. "You know Rosie wants you, but you're so insistent on this lawyer thing."

"Ah, yes, this whole 'having-a-career-and-stability-and-a-degree' thing is really messing with your store dynamic, isn't it Em?" Bella rolled her eyes yet again as she made her way to the break room to set down her bag. She took another long pull from her latte, letting the caffeine surge through her. She wasn't about to give up on a lifelong dream just so Emmett could have the manager he wanted, no matter how much she loved the Cullens. Besides, Esme would kill her if she quit law school, and Charlie would be devastated. He loved that she was going into justice. "Like father, like daughter," he always said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you want to be Ms. Saves-the-World, I know."

"Well, maybe not the world, but a few people couldn't hurt." Bella couldn't wait to be an attorney. She only had one semester left, and she was excited to get out there and help. Her specialty was in family law, and she knew that although the cases were usually sad, she would try her hardest to make a few happy endings. "So, new guy? New girl? What's the dirt?"

"Well, it's new guy for starters. He's my cousin from Chicago, remember I told you about him?" Emmett stole Bella's coffee from her hand and took a sip. She snatched it back, and made a face at Emmett. She could vaguely recall something about the Cullens' family in Chicago. Esme's sister and her husband lived there, with their son. His name was something that started with an E. Emmett put hi hand on the small of Bella's back and started guiding her toward Rose's office. _Edwin? No._ They neared the office and Bella could hear voices through the door. There was Rose's soft alto, speaking with affection, and a musical baritone, low and calm. _Eric? No, that's not it_. She heard the low voice chuckle, and thought to herself that it was nice-sounding. Maybe this guy wouldn't be so bad. _Evan? Definitely not._ "Knock, knock Rosie," Emmett said, opening the door to her office.

Rosalie sat across the desk, beaming at the chair across from her. She turned her perfect smile on Bella and Emmett, and Bella smiled back automatically. It was reflex. "Bella! Perfect, we were just talking about you!" Rosalie pointed to the new guy, and Bella finally looked down at him in the chair, as he turned to greet her and Emmett. She took a sip of her coffee. "Bella Swan, Edward Masen. Edward Masen, Bella Swan."

Bella choked on her coffee. The man in the chair was by far the most attractive man she had ever seen. He belonged in a Renaissance painting, not Rosalie's office. He was beautiful, with his unique brownish auburn mess of hair, his striking green eyes, straight nose and full lips, his high cheekbones. He was ethereal.

But that wasn't why she choked.

No, Bella choked on coffee because last night, after taking a body shot off of Alice's shoulder, she had spotted a man at the bar and the alcohol had deemed it appropriate for her to approach. The tequila spoke to her, saying a man sitting alone at the bar was obviously in need of some company. So she had ditched Alice, sidled up to the man at the bar, slid onto her own barstool, and talked to him. For about an hour before her phone went off, she sat and talked to the interesting, beautiful man at the bar. When her phone had chimed with Alice's text, asking where she was because it was time to go, Bella had been disappointed to leave the nice, attractive guy with the interesting conversation topics. So disappointed in fact, that the tequila had spoken to her again. It told her to kiss him goodbye, and she had. And it had been wonderful, the kind of kiss that warmed Bella all the way down to her toes. His lips had been still at first, apparently in shock, but he responded a split-second later, kissing her back fervently. His mouth was soft, and he tasted like whiskey. It was intoxicating, that kiss.

Bella hadn't been able to dwell on it like she wanted to when she'd gotten home. She had taken care of Alice and left her a glass of water for the morning and then promptly passed out without setting her alarm. But she did have a slip of paper on her nightstand, a napkin from the bar, hastily shoved into the pocket of her skintight jeans as she hurried to leave the bar before Alice passed out on the sidewalk. A napkin that said, in an elegant handwriting:

 _Edward Masen – 206 555 6572_

 _Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck._

Bella was so intensely screwed, she thought as she watched Edward's eyes widen in recognition. There was no way that anyone could know. Not just because Emmett would never, ever let her live it down. No, she couldn't let anyone at Cullen Fine Goods know about making out with Carlisle and Esme's nephew _(Oh God their nephew!!!!!)_ because employees were strictly prohibited from fraternizing romantically with their superiors. And as of about twenty seconds ago, Edward Masen was her superior, and all she could think about in that moment, as she desperately tried to get air to her lungs to replace the coffee currently flooding them, was fraternization. A whiskey and tequila soaked kiss against the high wooden bar, his lips insistent and her nose filled with his scent. And judging by the look he was giving her, Edward was thinking of the exact same thing.

 _Fuck_.

*

 **A/N: Thanks for stopping in. Let me know what's what!**


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N: Uhm. Hi. People actually put this story on alert, and believe me, no one is more shocked than I am. I apologize for any mistakes. I'm an English student so I try to self edit but there's always something. Thank you so much for wanting to know more about this strange premise. It's like coffee shop AU but retail, which is infinitely worse. Anyway, let's get on with it, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but a sorely neglected e-mail account that has been receiving actual traffic these days, thanks to some nice readers.**

 *****

Edward had awoken quite early that morning, having had trouble sleeping after his night at the club… or bar. Whatever it was. He really couldn't tell. People had been dancing, but it hadn't been so abysmally loud that he couldn't hear himself think, and the bar had offered whiskey – good whiskey – instead of crazy specialty drinks and flaming shots, so he didn't think it could technically be defined as a club. To be fair, he didn't really care what it was, he just knew that he had needed to leave his apartment last night before he lost his mind overthinking.

Edward had left Chicago with his Master's in Communications and an entire slew of trust issues. Since he started his graduate program at Northwestern, Edward had been dating the same woman. Her name was Victoria, and she was… interesting. She was hot-headed, had an incredibly bad verbal filter, and didn't always think of the effect her actions had on others. Edward had stayed distant at first, thinking that she was probably more trouble than she was worth, but her loud mouth had eventually drawn him in. He should have listened to his instincts. She always said exactly what she was thinking, and it thrilled him. He could read people easily, but the fact that he didn't have to with her was intriguing. He never had to work at the relationship; if something bothered Victoria, she would say so, he would adjust, and they would move on. It had worked for them, until it hadn't. Because one day the thing that had been on Victoria's mind that was bothering her was Edward. Apparently he didn't stack up to the _other guy_ she had also been seeing. That she hadn't mentioned to him. At all.

Which left Edward in a strange spot. He and Victoria had made plans for after graduation which Edward could not, having dumped her immediately after her revelation, follow through on. Mostly because those plans involved a familial connection that Victoria had at a company in Chicago in need of new Public Relations personnel. Edward could read the public almost as well as he could read individuals, and he had been excited to put his degree to good use. That was going to have to wait now. Instead, he opted to run far away from Chicago, and the humiliation of Victoria's betrayal, to Seattle, and the warm, inviting arms of his mother's family, the Cullens.

His aunt Esme and uncle Carlisle were his closest relatives. They had moved to Seattle when Edward was sixteen. They'd followed uncle Carlisle's dreams out West, to a prime location and benevolent benefactor for his store: Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium. They had closed the small Chicago store and packed up their lives to expand the business. The store had been completed by Edward's seventeenth birthday, and he and his parents had made the trip out for the grand opening. He remembered the store, filled with high-end merchandise and dozens of people milling about, holding their champagne flutes and browsing, taking turns congratulating his uncle and aunt. He and his cousins: Emmett and Alice, had spent a majority of the party stealing champagne and trying on the most ridiculous outfits they could find in the racks. He eventually found his way to the books and manuscripts section of the store, and was flipping through the pages of several interesting tomes when his Aunt Esme found him.

"Edward, my dear," she had said, making her way over to hug him tightly, "how do you like the place?" She was smiling so wide Edward was certain that it must hurt her face. It made him happy that she seemed so pleased with the new location. He missed them all terribly, but he loved them enough to recognize that this was good for them. The selfish teenager in him had to be a little petty, though.

"It's alright," he said. He followed it up with a wink. Esme beamed.

"Well, whatever you find here, you take, okay?" she said, gesturing vaguely to his books. "I told Carlisle that he was basically stocking this section for you anyway, since I'm just going to send you whatever seems interesting." She smiled impossibly wider at him, and Edward realized that he had missed this about his Aunt Esme: her unfailing joy in her family's happiness. She knew that Edward loved reading, and that he would love these books, and it had made her _happy_ just to offer them to him.

"Aw, Aunt Esme, I can't do that," Edward protested. He couldn't possibly accept these, they were rare and expensive. The expense didn't bother him so much, it just made the gesture too large for him to be entirely comfortable with it.

"You can and you will," she said, placing a hand on his arm and making small circles with her thumb. "Please, dear, we want you to have them. And we want you to visit more often, you and Lizzie and your father. I know Emmett misses his sparring partner." Edward laughed at that. Of course he did. Edward was the only person fool enough to mess with Emmett; it wasn't shocking that he hadn't found anyone here to try his luck with. Esme laughed with him, a light chuckle that sounded like a tinkling bell. Edward really had missed his aunt.

When they left for Chicago a few days later, Edward had an entirely new suitcase loaded with books to take with him. His father had joked with Carlisle about the expense of checking luggage on airplanes and everyone had a good chuckle. And that had been nine years ago. The Cullens had come in for a few Christmases, and they were all cheering in the stands when he graduated from high school, and then college. Edward had attended his cousin Emmett's wedding to Rosalie Hale as a groomsman, but he only stayed for three days. Edward had been so busy with school that the few times his parents made the trip out to them, he had stayed behind. But when he had needed a fresh perspective and a new start, he knew exactly where he could go.

He had called Emmett first. All Edward had to say was, "I'm thinking of the Olympic Peninsula for after graduation," and Emmett had immediately told him he had a job. Apparently the store couldn't keep a customer service manager. Something about women troubles and fragile egos. Since Edward had a Communications degree, surely he could avoid all of the troubles they had, and it could be a boon Edward could cling to until he made enough connections to get a job somewhere in P.R. It had seemed like a good enough idea to Edward, who was tired of thinking about Victoria and all of his apparent inadequacies. It would be nice to be away from all of their mutual friends, from the places they had frequented, from the reminders that he wasn't good enough.

So Edward had found an apartment in the city near the store using Alice as a reference. She already lived in the building and she and her roommate were good tenants, so his application had been approved. He had shipped out his things, taking two suitcases with him onto the plane, and after an emotional goodbye with his parents, leaving him feeling drained and nostalgic and ready to leave, he said goodbye to his childhood home in favor of cloudy skies and rain. At least the weather would match his mood.

The night before, Edward had felt particularly plagued with his negative thoughts. He was sitting in his empty apartment, which he had yet to furnish, and was feeling hateful toward himself. What was he doing, running away? Like a coward! Victoria had run him out of his home, and here he sat in an empty bachelor pad, about to start a glamorous career in customer service at his _family's_ retail establishment. He must be some sort of pathetic idiot. And he hadn't even been grocery shopping yet, which meant he had no alcohol, which on a night like this was unacceptable. He snatched up the keys to his Volvo, which had arrived in Seattle shortly after he had, threw on his shoes, grabbed a coat, and left.

He'd entered the first bar-looking establishment he came across, planted himself at the bar, and ordered three fingers of single-malt.

He had babysat that barstool all night, drowning his feelings and listening to the idle chit-chat of the people around him.

And then, _she_ appeared.

She slipped right onto the barstool next to his, in her tight jeans and blue blouse, waving down the bartender with one slim arm and ordering a shot of Patron. Drink in hand, she turned to Edward and smiled. "Hey," she said, and her voice sounded like music. Edward, as a music lover, took the time to appreciate it before responding. He took a large gulp of his drink and turned to face her.

"Hello."

She had taken a sharp breath in, and blinked up at him, seeming dazed. Or maybe just drunk. She quickly regained her composure though, set her drink onto the smooth wooden bar top, and her lips turned up at the corners in a small smile. "Do you mind if I sit here? My friend has found some people more willing to quote 'get rowdy' and I want to be as far from the blast zone as possible."

Edward had made a "not-at-all" gesture, and shook his head. "I wouldn't want you to get caught in the falling debris, miss…"

"Bella," she said, stretching her drink-free hand out to him. He took it, and shook once. Her hand was warm and soft, and so small. His hand covered hers almost entirely. And there was this odd feeling, as though he was being shocked with static, radiating up his arm from where her skin contacted his. He liked it.

"Edward," he replied. He took another look at his new drinking companion, taking in her small, heart-shaped face, her full lips, the bottom just slightly fuller than the top, button nose, and deep chocolate brown eyes framed by long lashes. Thick, dark hair fell in waves down her back, and bounced ever so slightly as she moved to pick up her drink. She held it out to him, in a salute.

"To drinking alone, together," she said, lifting her shot.

"That's a toast I'll drink to," Edward said, smiling. She was funny, and charming, and beautiful. Exactly the type Edward might have gone for, if he weren't so desperately inferior. Victoria had made sure he knew that. He was a terrible partner, a terrible lover, a terrible man, according to her. And this girl was obviously out of his league. He could see the man on the stool behind her eyeing her up appreciatively. She had probably approached Edward because he clearly wasn't much of a threat.

They both poured the alcohol down their throats, and Bella motioned for the bartender to bring back two more of the same. Out of nowhere, Bella snorted a short laugh. "Alone, together…" she said, shaking her head, "Why does that seem so familiar?" He watched as her face scrunched up in confusion, brow furrowed, lips turned down. Edward knew the exact moment she had her lightbulb go off, because her expressive features betrayed her every thought. Her whole face lit up, and she began beaming, rosy cheeks bunched up in glee, eyes full of excitement. "Oh my God, it's that song! The one off that Fall Out Boy album! You know, it's the one that goes: _'I don't know where you're going but do you got room for one more troubled soul'_!" Her singing voice was angelic; Edward hoped she'd do the entire song. She laughed out loud in triumph, and Edward smiled at the sound. She was a delight. The bartender arrived with their drinks and she stopped laughing and thanked him. She was still humming the song when she suddenly stopped, her cheeks coloring to a rosy pink as she cast her eyes downward. "Am I talking too much?" she asked. She didn't give Edward a chance to respond before continuing her rant in a rush. "I'm talking too much. You were enjoying your silent drink and I came over here and intruded. I'm sorry, I'll drink in silence."

It took a lot of restraint on Edward's part not to laugh. Instead he took a sip of his drink and smiled at her. "You're not talking too much." In fact, she was distracting him from himself. It was nice. "The best song on that album is 'Save Rock and Roll' though. How can you not love Elton John?" He took another drink, raising one eyebrow at her as he did so.

She smiled, her cheeks still tinted the rosy color of her blush. It was a good view, Edward decided. Maybe he could make her smile again tonight. If nothing else came from his decision to run away, then at least he had managed to make a pretty girl happy for a few moments. Victoria couldn't take that away from him.

"Finally, someone who doesn't worship at the altar of 'My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark'," she said. She grimaced as she mentioned the offending song, making a motion with her hands as though trying to clear them of some invisible muck. "Good God, could they have overplayed that song any more? If I have to hear _'I'm on FIIIIIIYAH'_ one more time _I'm_ going to light _myself_ on 'fiyah'."

Edward laughed and she joined him before slamming back her drink. "I would say that's the most overplayed song in the genre, but 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' still exists, so that's out."

She smiled again, and Edward felt victorious. Inadequate he may be, shattered confidence he may have, but at least he was amusing to one person.

"So, I now know that you like alternative pop punk," she said, as she motioned to the bartender. "Tequila Sunrise, please," she said to the man when he arrived, then turned back to Edward, smiling. "What else is in your musical repertoire?"

They had talked about music and books for the next hour, discussing the merits of Kerouac versus Austen, why _Fight Club_ was in fact, the worst, but made for a decent film, and the influences of neo-classical music on crooners like Sara Bareilles. They had similar tastes, but butted heads on a few subjects. For example, she was adamant that Sum 41's best song was "Fat Lip" when it very clearly was "Underclass Hero".

"'Fat Lip' is just the obvious choice, you've got to expand your reasoning!" Edward insisted before taking a sip of his whiskey.

"It's the obvious choice because it's the best," she insisted, spinning her straw around in her brightly colored drink. "And besides, will we, as a species, ever top the line _'The doctors said my mom should've had an abortion'_? No. No we will not!" She laughed at her own joke then, the sound ringing through the air and making Edward feel warm. "Whoa!" she said, and Edward leaned toward her, confused by her outburst. "Holy shit, what _is_ that?!" She was pawing at the pocket of her jeans, struggling to remove something from the confines of the skintight denim. "Oh my _God_!" She finally wrestled the item free; it was her phone. "Who the hell put this on vibrate?!" She swiped the screen, the brightness washing her features in a blue-tinged glow. "Oh, for fuck's sake." She turned back to Edward, smiling a little ruefully. "I have to go, but I swear, I am not done convincing you that I am right."

"How exactly do you plan on doing that if you leave?" Edward was disappointed she was leaving, but it had been inevitable. He couldn't expect to hold the attention of a woman like her for very long. His hour was up, that was all; he could make his peace with that.

She pushed a bar napkin his way and stole the pen out of the bartender's tip jar. "Write, pretty boy," she said, and handed him the pen, getting down off of her barstool to stand next to him. Pretty boy? That was a new one. Edward did as he was told, writing his name and number, though he was pretty certain she would never use them. He handed her the napkin and she shoved it into her back pocket, smiling up at him. There seemed to be some sort of conflict going on in her head, her eyes kept darting around his face, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Edward was breathless for a moment, imagining trapping her lip between his own teeth. He quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting to leer at her like some creep. It would be nice, though, that he had to admit. Her lips looked soft and inviting, the perfect natural shade of pink. Paired with her dark eyes and blushing cheeks, it was a near-lethal combination. He was glad she'd talked to him at all, glad that he'd be able to keep her face in his memories. It was a good face.

Suddenly, the conflict stopped, her eyes filled with resolve and she reached up on her tiptoes to clasp her hands behind his neck, pulling him downward. Her lips met his and he was right, oh so right, they were soft. And inviting. They invited him right on in. He was momentarily stunned, but responded quickly, planting his feet on the floor and wrapping one arm around her delicate waist. He kissed her back, desperate to make this fleeting moment last, because who knew when another beautiful woman would kiss him again? Did this mean she would actually call? Or was she just capping off the night? Thanking him for good conversation? Most importantly – who cared? She was here, and warm, and she tasted like tequila and orange juice. Their lips moved in perfect concert, and Edward felt invincible. For the first time since Victoria, he felt confident and wanted, and no matter what came next, he would always have this small, beautiful, funny, smart girl to thank for that.

She let out a small whimper, and pushed herself back. She looked disheveled and breathless. It was incredibly sexy. She took a moment to catch her breath, then leaned up and placed one quick, hard kiss on his lips. She muttered something that sounded like, "Damn you pixie."

Then she left, spinning on her heels and rushing toward the bar's exit.

And Edward had downed his drink, closed out his tab, and gone home.

When he arrived home at 2:30 AM, he tried to go to sleep.

Tried being the operative word. He couldn't sleep. He kept reliving it. Somewhere out in this city that he had run to, far away from all of his problems, was Bella, who could really deliver a kiss. Knowing that she was out there, maybe that she was even thinking of the kiss herself, kept him wide awake. And so it was that he heaved a sigh at his alarm clock digital readout, taunting him with the glowing red 7:00. He didn't actually have to be awake for work for another half hour, but there was no point in trying to sleep anymore.

Edward hoisted himself out of his bed, one of his only pieces of furniture. He had been lucky enough to own his own bedroom set, but when he and Victoria had moved in together, she had brought all of her furniture with her, claiming that Edward's things were mismatched bachelor pieces that made her depressed. So out they had gone, and all Edward had left were his bed, his nightstand, and his dresser. He also had his TV, because there was no way in hell he was letting her keep it, just so she could watch their shows on their TV with someone who was not him.

He made his way to the bathroom, absentmindedly scratching at his hair. He really should try to make it presentable today; Rosalie hated his hair's tendency toward bedhead. She had complained about it throughout the photo session for her and Emmett's wedding, saying that they may as well all muss their hair up if they couldn't get Edward's to lay flat. Rosalie liked Edward himself, though. He knew that for a fact, because she always shot him a beauty queen smile after making one of her comments. That, and she had told him so. Rosalie was scary, but direct. It was part of what made her a great general manager at Cullen's Fine Goods. Despite her sometimes cool attitude, he was looking forward to working with her.

After showering he attempted to brush his hair flat, but it just wouldn't cooperate. He sat there for fifteen minutes trying in vain, because his hair was just a rebel like that. The entire time he brushed, his mind wandered back to the bar, and to Bella. Would she call? What if she didn't? She probably wouldn't. Maybe she was a regular at that bar? Could he run into her there again? Would that seem desperate? He didn't have to mention that she hadn't called; it could be a coincidence, running into her again. Was she coherent this morning? He didn't think she'd had too much to drink, and she had seemed entirely lucid. Did he read the situation wrong? What if she had been too drunk? Oh God, did he kiss a drunk girl while she was too inebriated to fully understand and consent? She had kissed him, though. Did that even matter? None of this really mattered anyway, he would probably never see or hear from her again. He wasn't good enough. He knew that from personal experience. Did she hate the kiss? Oh God, was he a bad kisser on top of all his other glaring defects?

Edward took a deep breath. He had to calm down. This was never going to be an issue, so he shouldn't treat it like one. If she ever called would be up to her. He couldn't control it. And she wasn't going to call anyway. Get a grip, he told himself, you have to actually work today, and you can't do it if your brain is on a Bella-loop. He grabbed a suit from the closet, mindful to keep what Emmett had said in mind: "Management wears business clothing: suits, sport coats, and button downs." He also remembered the text he'd gotten from Alice yesterday afternoon. _Only wear brown shoes with navy suits Edward. Don't be that guy in brown shoes and a black suit. I'll never live it down._ So he ended up with a navy suit and brown Oxfords, hoping like hell that it would amuse his tiny cousin. He dressed quickly and wandered into his kitchen.

The first thing he had purchased for his new apartment was a coffee-maker. He'd online ordered it and had it shipped to his new address. A couch, a dining table, chairs, décor, that could all come later. Coffee he needed immediately. He prepared his morning beverage, packing in extra grounds to counteract his sleepless night. Once the coffee was percolating, he contemplated his meager food options.

He hadn't grocery shopped, but he did have leftover pizza. Not exactly a breakfast food, but beggars couldn't be choosers, right? He ate a slice cold and took his coffee in a to-go mug. Despite his desperate attempts, his hair was still a haystack, but he figured at least now he had a conversation starter with Rosalie. Then he left for work, trying very hard to concentrate on the day ahead of him instead of the night before.

*

Rosalie and Emmett were already at the store when Edward arrived. Rosalie was doing small, menial tasks: unlocking doors, turning on lights and computers, checking aisles for stray items. Emmett was there strictly for Edward, to complete all of his employment paperwork.

"I usually come in at eleven, but I made an exception for you, Eddie," he said with a wide grin, clapping his giant hand onto Edward's shoulder. Edward just raised a brow at his goofball cousin, waiting for him to let go.

He didn't. He stood there, uncomfortably clutching Edward's shoulder, giving him that same wide grin. Edward finally realized that he was trying to make him uneasy, to get a reaction. Just like when they were kids. Edward turned his head so that he could see Rosalie bustling around in his periphery. "Isn't this some form of harassment?" he asked Rosalie, before turning back to Emmett, who appeared to be on the verge of laughter.

"Take it up with Human Resources," she replied, her voice deadpan, not bothering to turn back to him.

Emmett lost it then, guffawing loudly at his wife's apparent genius. "Come on, cousin E," he said, leading them through a locked doorway by punching in a code. "Let's get you squared away and wrangling a department." Emmett led him through a common space area, complete with refrigerator, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, sink, seating area, two lounge chairs, a couch, and a foosball table, to a hallway lined with doors. Offices, Edward realized. Emmett opened the farthest door on the left, and gestured for Edward to have a seat in the chair facing the desk. His paperwork was already spread out and awaiting signatures.

Emmett explained salary, insurance, workman's comp, sick leave, vacation, and bonuses in a bored voice. He sounded like he had the speech memorized. If they really had so much trouble keeping a manager, maybe he did. However, when he got to the next section of paperwork, Emmett straightened in his chair, and a brief flash of anger passed over his face. It confused Edward, but he felt obligated to let Emmett finish his speech before he interjected with probing personal questions.

"Alright, this part I am legally obligated to include, and after last time, I'm actually kind of glad it's in there. The last manager didn't do a very good job sticking to this rule." Edward was instantly intrigued; what had this manager done that was so bad? "We here at Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium employ a strict non-fraternization policy between employees and supervisors. It only prohibits romantic fraternization, so feel free to make as many friends as you want, but you cannot date, court, or _fondle_ ," he snarled that last word, "any of your subordinates, okay?"

Edward was taken aback. Had the last manager really touched someone? Who? Alice? Rose? He suddenly felt very angry at this unseen miscreant, for mistreating people under the care and protection of the Cullen family. No wonder Emmett was glad the policy was in place. "Of course, Em," he said. "You know I would never-"

"I do know, man," Emmett interrupted him, "I just have to tell you, and I want you to know why one of your coworkers might be a little sensitive to new authority. She claims she was fine, but… Ugh." He stopped, unable to get the words out.

Edward had mercy on him. "We'll talk about that if it ever becomes an issue, okay? I don't need to know who it was." He patted the back of Emmett's hand, trying to convey through his expression that this time was different, this time was family, and there was nothing Edward would ever do to jeopardize that. Emmett smiled at him, his good nature returning.

"Okay then, I think we're done. I'll process this and see if your trainer's here yet while you talk to Rosie about responsibilities and what-not." He stood, gesturing for Edward to exit the office. He followed Edward to the door, pausing to place the paperwork in a manila folder that Edward saw was labelled "Masen, E."

"Trainer?" Edward asked, once they were out in the hall. "Wouldn't that be you or Rose?" It was only logical to assume that the bosses trained the new boss, right? Who would be training him if not them? Surely not Carlisle or Esme, they had much more important matters to attend to.

"Oh, yeah, we don't really work on the register system much, so we're not totally comfortable with the ins and outs of it. But don't worry, we've got your team lead on it. She's been with us for six years, and crushed many a fragile ego, so she knows what she's doing. The customer service aspect will be all you, she's just going to show you how the system works and give you a general run-down of the place." Emmett smiled when he mentioned the team lead. He must like her. He seemed almost proud when he spoke of her "crushing egos". Didn't Alice's roommate work here too? He seemed to remember Aunt Esme mentioning that on the phone once. Maybe it was her? Edward would know soon enough, at any rate.

Emmett led him into Rosalie's office, which was the one on the right closest to the common space. Probably so she could keep a close eye on her employees. Rosalie was seated behind the desk, staring at her computer monitor, seemingly engrossed in a spreadsheet. "You busy, babe?" Emmett asked, after knocking on the door frame. Rosalie turned her head and beamed at him, shaking her head.

"Just mapping out department projections. Alice will be thrilled to see that clothing is still number one for sales." She turned her gaze on Edward. "Have a seat! Did you take up your complaint with H.R?"

Edward chuckled while Emmett let out another belly laugh. "I did," Edward said, "but they told me that one employee can only get up to fifty complaints a week and Emmett had already exceeded his limit. They told me to try again Monday." Emmett continued to laugh heartily at his response, so he took his seat across from Rosalie. "Tell me what I'm up against."

Emmett calmed down enough to go, and waved at Rosalie. "I'm gonna go get Bells, be quick." Rosalie just nodded at him, before turning to Edward. How odd. What did they need bells for? The word was close enough to a name that Edward lost his focus for a second, thinking again of tequila and warm lips. He shook his head a fraction, refocusing on Rosalie.

She told him all about his department. It was mostly women, with only three men, himself included. There was always some small drama that needed ironing out. Someone wouldn't switch shifts, someone performed someone else's downtime task, someone called someone else a name. It was all simple stuff to fix, really, there was just a lot of it. Rosalie said that it wasn't the depth of the problems so much as the quantity that overwhelmed most managers. She also explained about their team lead.

"Really, she's just a manager at this point. She can do all of the same stuff you can, she just doesn't want the title and she can't really devote the time necessary. She's in her last year at law school." Rosalie smiled, her tone full of pride. His whole family seemed to like her. Edward was anxious to meet her for himself. Someone who could impress Rosalie was sure to be quite the woman, indeed.

"That's very impressive," he commented, smiling back at Rose.

"We think so," she replied, still smiling. Her look soured as she continued, however. "Other managers did not seem to share the sentiment. They felt undercut by an employee. Several of them couldn't handle feeling so useless; most of the girls still take their problems to her." She sighed heavily.

"Well, that sounds incredibly juvenile," Edward said, scoffing. He couldn't believe there were grown adults who couldn't understand that most people craved the familiar. Obviously the team craved this girl because of her stability. She had been there for over half a decade. "And to be honest with you, I could use all the help I can get."

"That's what I love about you, Edward. You know when to accept help, and you deal with all of us. It's what's going to make you a good boss." Rosalie was grinning at him now, complete confidence in him shining out of her expression.

"Well, I appreciate the sentiment," he said, smiling back at her. He really did love his family. They were all so supportive. He was glad that he'd made the move out, even if it had been due to terrible circumstances. "Mostly I'm just going to try not to horribly offend anyone." He chuckled then, half amused and half genuinely nervous that he would do exactly that.

The door opened behind him, but he kept smiling at Rosalie. Rosalie smiled at the newcomers, waving her hand for them to come in.

"Bella!" she said, and Edward froze. What an odd coincidence. Isabella is a pretty common name though, maybe this was just another one. "Perfect, we were just talking about you!" Edward started to turn in his chair to greet his team lead with the coincidental name. "Bella Swan, Edward Masen. Edward Masen, Bella Swan."

Edward turned his head, smile in place, and looked up… into chocolate brown eyes. Not just any chocolate brown eyes, either, but the ones he had been fantasizing about all night. He could perfectly remember, after that first kiss, how her eyes had looked darker, as though her pupils had dilated, he could remember his quickened pulse, the feel of her waist on his arm, her hair tickling his cheek. And as he remembered, he also remembered his cousin's voice, from just a few moments ago: " _We here at Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium employ a strict non-fraternization policy between employees and supervisors._ " And this girl was definitely his team lead, because Emmett was standing right behind her, pounding on her back.

It was her.

And she was choking.

 _Fuck_.

*

 **A/N: Next up, let's get the most awkward first day ever rolling! Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me at em!**


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N: Hello again! Sorry for the wait, real life got in my way this past week. But on a happier note, my students did a great job in their play! Critics raved!**

 **So, there was some question last time about the difference between fraternization and harassment. I hope this chapter clears it up for you, the situation was a bit nuanced.**

Emmett was pounding Bella on the back. At first, it had been helpful. Now it was just painful. She couldn't even say that she was fine, because she would open her mouth only to get jolted by another swift jab between the shoulder blades. She wondered to herself if she should just wait him out, or risk turning and getting hit in the face. Finally, after a particularly painful blow, she spun around and snatched Emmett's big meaty paw up in her hands. It was a good thing she had a hold of Emmett, too, because when she spun, her feet tangled together and she needed the leverage to right herself. When she was firmly planted, she shoved Emmett's hand back into his chest, perhaps a little more roughly than was absolutely necessary. "I'm good now, Gigantor. You're supposed to check after a few seconds." She looked up at him, a small smirk forming on her lips. She planted one hand on her hip, waiting for his response.

But he didn't fall prey to her sarcasm like he usually did. No, he instead looked over Bella's head at Edward, who had risen from his seat in a panic when Bella had choked. He was watching her now with a small frown on his face, as if waiting for her to keel over. Emmett jerked his chin toward him, then down at Bella, whose face had turned toward his when she noticed Emmett looking at him. "Hey, you're already doing better than the last guy. She took one look, said, 'Okay then,' and left him in Rosie's office here to fend for himself. Choking has to be a step up." Emmett was grinning at Edward now, ignoring Bella's furious expression and subsequent kick to his shin. Her feet were so tiny, after all, and his shins were, like the rest of him, so strong.

Edward's lips curved up into a small smile and he cast his eyes down to the floor. "Glad I can rank above indifference," he said, letting out a breathy chuckle while Emmett continued beaming at him. Emmett opened his mouth to make another – no doubt embarrassing or stupid – comment, but was cut off by his wife shooting him a look that clearly said, "shut up, you oaf."

"Emmett, that's enough," Rosalie said from behind her desk, where she stood, also apparently waiting for Bella to lapse into unconsciousness. "Maybe we should try that again?" Emmett took Bella's shoulders and angled her toward Edward, who was still looking at the ground. "Edward Masen, your team lead, Bella Swan." Edward looked up, and Bella was glad that her coffee remained in its abandoned spot on Rosalie's desk. Because in the midst of her choking and freaking out, she had blanked on exactly how beautiful this man was.

His auburn hair was in a heap on top of his head, sticking out every which way, curling onto his forehead. It was shorter on the sides than the top, and the fluorescents made it shine. His eyes were a deep forest green, staring into hers with sadness. So he must know about the policy, then. He knew that they couldn't have a repeat performance of last night, and he was sad. Or, he had written a fake number on that napkin, and he was sad that he would now be forced to spend even more time with the crazy lady at the bar who had jumped him. She had assumed he was worried about her choking fit, but maybe he was just being polite? Her eyes traveled down from his confusing gaze and landed on his shy smile. Huh. Was he shy? She'd thought at the bar that maybe he was aloof, that he was being generous and entertaining her despite his desire to drink alone. But if this expression was anything to go by, perhaps he had just been alone because he didn't talk to anyone. So maybe he was sad that they couldn't continue what she'd started? Or was he just too awkward to maneuver this random coincidence?

Bella supposed that no matter what, she should be glad that at the very least Eric was gone, and being replaced by someone kind. No level of awkward interaction with her new boss could bring Bella to resent that.

Of everything Bella knew of Edward Masen, which was admittedly not much, she knew this: he was kind. He had been kind to her at the bar, and was being kind now, holding his hand out for a shake and pretending as though he wasn't acutely aware of exactly who Bella was and what her waist felt like in his hands, what her lips felt like on his. At least, that was what Bella was thinking of. That, and how large his hands were.

She placed her smaller hand in his, and felt it again, that same tingle from the bar, like pleasant fire crackling up her skin from the place his hand touched hers. She fought the urge to start crying. How was she supposed to ignore this man who made her feel as though she were on fire? It was all just so terribly unfair. He was kind, and shy, had good taste, was an interesting conversationalist, and, on top of all of that, he was related to the greatest people in the world, the people she loved best aside from her own parents, and that kind of greatness was surely genetic. It was as though God himself had placed him in her path, and was now laughing at her because a piece of paper that they'd both signed said she had to stay away. This was exactly why Bella was becoming a lawyer: to rip to shreds pieces of paper that forced her to do things she didn't want to do. Well, that and to help families in need. Okay, so, mostly the families thing, but she was pretty pissed at that stupid employee contract right about now, staring into Edward's beautiful green eyes, her hand tingling with warmth from his, her mind running their kiss on the big screen over and over and over as they shook hands.

Dear God, they were still shaking hands. Surely this was a lot of time to remain silently shaking someone's hand. Bella immediately released his fingers, though she didn't want to. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Masen." She looked down, from his eyes to his jaw, to rest on his chest, which she had just noticed looked very nice in his navy suit. She swallowed once, thickly.

"Please," he said, and her eyes shot up to his once more, "call me Edward." His shy, boyish smile widened into a grin, then, with the left side pulling up just slightly higher, making it lopsided. It was breathtaking. Literally. Bella stopped breathing for a moment.

When she remembered that she was supposed to perform that function to go on living, she said, "Edward, then," and nodded. She stared into his eyes, and the sadness there was surely mirrored in her own. The irony of this situation was painful, that was for sure. Couldn't they have met before he worked here? At some function or other? Bella was with the Cullens for almost every major milestone, why wasn't he there? Chicago was far, but definitely workable for travel, and she remembered meeting Elizabeth, Edward's mother, Esme's sister, at Rosalie's baby shower three years ago. Where was Edward? And did he even want her back, or was she subjecting herself to incredibly wishful thinking? He could just be sad that he would now have to give her his real number.

She was interrupted from her contemplation of cruel fate and silly destinies by Emmett, who, sensing that Rosalie was distracted, decided to make another comment.

"Ed, man, if she says one more word to you, you've set a record for non-work-related discussion with Bella, beating out every customer service manager since Mikey."

Bella rolled her eyes, then looked back to Edward. He mumbled something that sounded like, "It's _Edward_ , doofus," and cast his eyes back to the floor, fidgeting with his hands. Bella watched him as he reached up and scratched the back of his neck, noticing that his ears were slightly red. It was kind of adorable, how timid he was compared to Emmett, that boisterous idiot.

"Well, Emmett," she said, turning to raise an eyebrow at him, "jot this date and time down then, for your records." She turned back to Edward, who seemed puzzled by her behavior, and said, "Hello. Nice weather today, isn't it?"

Edward smiled, that crooked, boyish smile that made Bella forget normal respiratory function, and he seemed incredibly amused. Bella smiled back at him, feeling incredibly pleased to have made him incredibly amused. "Yes," he said, his smile widening, making Bella's heart thump rapidly, "I do quite enjoy the rain." He was heartbreaking, standing there in his suit, all broad shoulders and long legs. Bella could feel the fissure forming in her heart from what could have been.

But, best not to dwell on such things. "There," she said, " _now_ you've beaten the record." She wagged her brows as she said "now", her tone full of implication. She was alluding to their time in the bar, where they had definitely spoken about more non-work-related topics than Bella usually did with anyone, let alone customer service managers. Edward barked a short laugh, and quickly covered it with a cough.

"Yes I suppose I have," he said softly, his eyes sparkling with humor.

"Would you like a tour of the store?" Bella offered, leaning to the side to shoot Rosalie a questioning glance. Rosalie, who was smiling widely for some unknown reason, just nodded, so Bella fixed her eyes back on Edward, a view she was certain she would never tire of.

"Please, Miss Swan," he said, gesturing with his arm that she should lead the way.

"It's Bella, thanks." She started to shove her way past Emmett to the door.

"Bella, then," he said, and Bella thought she might fall over. That man should only ever say her name. He could use it to replace all nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and articles. It was indecent, her name and that voice, like the two were interconnected on the most intimate levels. She realized now that he hadn't actually used her name while they were at the bar. How odd, that when a conversation flows between two people, they don't really use their names except during introductions. She was grateful he hadn't used it while she was intoxicated; she probably would have fallen off her barstool. His voice, already incredibly sexy, wound around and covered her name like it was a song he loved singing. She wondered what it sounded like when he… _Nope! Can't think of_ that _right now, Isabella Marie. Mind out of the gutter and into your_ job.

Despite her internal warnings, she couldn't help but wish for some sort of time warp to send her back to the bar last night, before she knew he was her boss, when she could have called Alice a cab. But, that probably would have made _this_ much worse. So instead, she snagged her coffee off of Rosie's desk, exited the office with Edward, and started making her way down the hall, before Emmett's voice stopped them.

"Hey, Bells, don't forget! I put you on shift with Jess _all week_." Bella turned and gaped at him, open mouthed and fuming. He was going to subject them to _Jess_?! Jess, who could read sexual tension like a fifth grade chapter book? Jess, who made more crude jokes than anyone on staff? Jess, who would positively _eat_ this shy, adorable man for breakfast?! They were so screwed. Jess was perceptive, and she was going to grill Bella all about Edward the second they were alone. Good thing he was her shadow for training, huh? "Close your mouth, dear, you're catching flies." Bella was going to throttle him. Though her mouth did snap shut.

Bella groaned and turned to Edward. "I'm so sorry."

"Why?" he asked, brows raised in confusion.

"Jess is… a character," she said, by way of explanation.

Some of the girls' sense of humor was interesting, to say the least. They consistently joked about a wide variety of topics and almost none of those topics were strictly considered work-appropriate. But, by far, Jess was the worst. While Bella had the market cornered in horrifying black humor, Jess dabbled in a little of everything. Her specialty was lewd humor. Anything that _could_ be a phallus, was a phallus, and she had seemingly zero limits. She did have a limit though, Bella knew. She stopped in front of the customers.

Coworkers were fair game, though. She was almost excited, but still terrified, to see how Edward would handle such behavior at the volume Jessica produced it. If he was as shy as she suspected he was, she was hoping for some sort of abject horror, or maybe even that he would be afraid of Jess. It would probably be better for everyone involved if he were afraid of Jessica. Less chance of him overhearing her more suggestive comments.

Behind them, Emmett was laughing his ass off. Bella let Edward lead the way toward the break room, and took the opportunity to flip Emmett the bird while Edward wasn't looking. Emmett just laughed harder. She heard a smacking sound, followed by a loud, "Ouch! What the _hell_ baby?!" Good. Rosalie was probably chewing him out for subjecting Edward to Jess on his first day, and he deserved it.

Bella followed Edward out the door onto the sales floor, making sure the lock clicked into place. She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, then turned to the keypad. She punched in the code – 25423 – and then turned the knob. "The code's 'Alice' this month, but it cycles," she said. "Last month was 'Emmett', only he didn't tell anyone how to spell it. Took most of the employees a couple tries." She closed the door again and smiled at the memory of Emmett's wide grin as he watched employees try and fail to spell his name right. Most of them had been missing an 'm' or a 't' and were scared that spelling it wrong would land them in hot water with the boss. Almost every member of the personnel at CFG had no idea that Emmett was such a goofball. He spent most of his days in the office crunching numbers, and people usually only needed Human Resources for serious subjects. This meant that most of the people who worked for him were terrified of Emmett's immense bulk, and completely oblivious to his playful nature.

"When do they put 'Edward' in the rotation?" he asked, with a grin on his face. She laughed.

"Knowing Em, he'll make it a nickname just to piss you off," she said, and then giggled at his grimace. "Next month's 'Bella', and then it cycles back to 'Esme'."

"They skip Carlisle?" he asked. She had expected him to be confused about her inclusion, but he accepted it just fine. He truly was very kind. It was sort of odd, she guessed, that her name was included with the rest of the family's. Some of the more dramatic staff had even speculated that she was Carlisle's secret love child. As if the man would or even could ever step out on Esme. He loved her more than Bella had ever seen anyone love their spouse. They were an inspiration, a good example of how to behave. Bella wanted her future marriage to be just like theirs. She and Alice had discussed it many times – how wonderful her parents were. The proof was there in the pudding: Bella's name in code in a store owned by the most amazing couple she'd ever met, who miraculously loved her just as much as she loved them. She smiled at just the thought.

"No, it just has too many letters and is too hard to spell. Plus everyone just calls him Mr. Cullen, anyway." She thought for a moment, tapping her finger to her chin. "I suppose they could put 'Cullen' in the rotation, but maybe that would be too obvious."

Edward laughed, and Bella decided that she very much enjoyed that sound. "Hey wait," he said, furrowing his brow, "how'd you know I hate nicknames?"

Bella blushed, embarrassed to be caught paying special attention to him. "I, uh," she stammered, "I heard you correct Emmett earlier."

His eyebrows raised, surprised. "Huh," he said, almost more of an exhalation than a sentiment. He looked down at Bella's face, half hidden in her hair as she peeked up at him. "You're blushing. Did you know that?" He reached out hesitantly, so carefully slowly, and tucked her hair behind her ear. His fingers brushed Bella's cheek and the fire raged on, warming her. If it were possible, she must have been even more red than before. Bella let out a shuddering breath and swallowed.

"Uh, yeah," she said, avoiding direct eye contact. "It's like my natural state of being." It was true, Bella blushed more than anyone she knew. She was always in awkward or embarrassing situations. It came with the territory of having Alice as a roommate. She was always dragging them off on some adventure or other, usually ending up with Bella on the floor or otherwise injured by her own two traitorous feet. People had usually learned how to walk safely by age twenty-four, hadn't they? Why couldn't her own feet cooperate the way they were supposed to?

"But you didn't blush last…" Edward trailed off, and Bella realized that he meant last night and she resigned herself to being red for the rest of the day. Maybe she could convince Jessica that she was sick, to explain away her tomato face. It might work if Jess didn't know her so damnably well.

Edward was staring at his shoes, his ears tinged pink. It was the first time either of them had mentioned the previous night. It was awkward, and Bella wished he would look up again, just so she could see his eyes. She wanted to know if he regretted it. She wanted to know if he felt the fire like she did. She wanted to know if he was having just as much trouble as she was being in such close proximity to him. She wanted to know if it was his real number on the napkin. She wanted to know what size shoes he wore and how he took his coffee and what his favorite color was and how he made his hair look like that and how he felt about growing up with Alice and Emmett and how he acted with Henry and if his lips were really that soft or if she had hyped them up in her tequila-tinted memory.

Maybe she couldn't get all of her answers, but she could get some. She reached out and took his arm, and started dragging him through the store, pointing things out along the way. "That's clothing," she said, pointing to the rows and rows of racks. "Alice runs it, and she has a team to keep it organized. Sometimes if we're bored, the customer service reps will help."

Edward trailed behind her, almost but not quite keeping pace as she barreled through the store. "Bella, what are you do-"

"And this is the manuscript and literature section," she said, cutting him off. "Carlisle likes to oversee it himself, but the customer service department does the day-to-day tasks. Sorting, stocking, retrieving titles, that stuff. I'll show you how later." She dragged him three rows up and five stacks to the left, and then came to an abrupt halt. She yanked five tomes out from the shelf and peered through the opening they made, checking for curious ears. There were very few people on the opening shift, but she couldn't be too careful. She replaced the books and repeated the action with the shelf opposite her.

Satisfied that no one was around, she whirled on her heel to face Edward, who looked… amused? Why was he amused? Hasn't she just dragged him through the store like a lunatic? She'd promised him a tour and given him a race. He should be angry, or confused, shouldn't he?

"What's so funny?" she asked, planting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow at him.

Edward let out a chuckle and then shook his head. "Nothing," he said. "That was just very 007 of you, checking the stacks like that." He smiled wide at her, and ran a hand through his hair. "It was adorable."

"Don't call me adorable," Bella responded. "I am MI6. I am not adorable, I am deadly." She cocked her head to one side, daring him to contradict her.

"Yes, Agent Swan," he said, rearranging his face into a look of utter sincerity. "My deepest apologies for pointing out your adorable behavior." He bowed at the waist and gave her a small salute when he straightened.

Bella laughed and leaned against the shelf behind her.

They stood silently for a moment, Bella looking at her shoes. Finally, when she felt ready, Bella spoke up. "We should probably talk about it." She looked up and saw that Edward was staring at her. He nodded. He didn't seem inclined to say anything else, so Bella continued. "Last night… I was too forward. I don't usually do things like that, but you were… are… so… nice and funny and opinionated and beautiful and I had tequila and I _always_ tell Ali that we have to stick to the dark liquors but she doesn't listen and…" she trailed off, realizing that she was rambling and Edward was smiling at her, again. "I'm talking too much."

"No," he said, shaking his head, "You're not." He scratched the back of his neck, and he looked at the books next to him, apparently absorbed in thought. "You think I'm beautiful?" he finally blurted out, after what felt to Bella like several eternities. His ears were pink again, and he was now the one staring at his shoes.

Bella considered lying, for the sake of saving face, but couldn't bring herself to be anything less than truthful about this man's attributes. It would be like a disservice to humanity to try and deny his beauty. "Yes," she whispered, hoping he heard her, and that she wouldn't have to repeat it. She wanted the ground to swallow her. Now he would always know that sober or drunk, she was attracted to him. And they were going to have to work together. In close proximity. It was incredibly humiliating. Maybe he would spend a lot of time in his office.

He was silent again, and Bella watched as he processed her declaration. He was reflective, stoic.

And then he smiled.

"Not very manly, is it?" he said, before letting out a breath of laughter. "Being called beautiful, that is." He looked up then, directly into Bella's eyes, green meeting brown. "I'd much rather we saved that word for you, anyway."

 _Oh dear sweet Lord in Heaven_ , he thought she was beautiful. He was attracted to her, too. She could tell by the way he was looking into her eyes, the way they sparked with that fire, the same fire she felt when he touched her. In the way he said "we" like it was a prayer. They were both so screwed. Bella sucked in a shaky breath.

"I'm not beautiful," she said. "I'm perfectly ordinary."

"I would very much beg to differ." His eyes and his voice and his words were making Bella's knees weak. She had to say something, anything, but she was coming up short.

So she blurted out the obvious.

"I'm not allowed… _We're_ not allowed… to… you know." She blushed all the way to the roots of her hair and snapped her mouth closed. She should not be allowed to talk to this man without alcohol involved. She lost all her snark when he pierced her with his gaze.

He was smiling again, damn him, that perfectly lopsided grin. "No, I'm not quite sure I do know." He was feigning ignorance, teasing her, she could hear it in his tone. "Please describe in great detail what we're not allowed to do."

"Edward, please," Bella said, her voice low. She rolled her eyes at him. He rolled his right back at her, shaking his head slightly.

"Well, that was intentionally vague, Bella." He started pacing the short distance between the bookshelves, tugging at his hair. "I have to joke about it anyway, because if I don't joke, I'm going to scream."

Bella nodded, her eyes trailing his pacing form back and forth, admiring his walk. He had a nice walk, not too fast, but not a stroll, and the perfect amount of motion to it. "I know the feeling," she said.

"I have to joke, because you – lovely, beautiful, funny, delightful you – you find me attractive, and since wonders never cease, my family already likes you, and I'm just selfish enough to want you, even though I could never be good enough, and I can't, literally cannot do a damn thing about it. Can't even explore what could be. Can't hold your hand, can't make discoveries, can't possibly know if it would all crash and burn or if it might somehow work out." He was still pacing, still tugging at his hair, and his distress was evident. But there was more, an anger there, as though he were railing at God. It was glorious, he was glorious, beautiful and tall and full of righteous indignation. Bella hoped he never calmed down. This was the most she'd heard him say at one time and she was enjoying the rumble of his voice, despite the fact that his words made the fissure in her heart crack a bit wider.

He stopped then, and looked directly at her, green eyes boring into hers, sending her heart fluttering like a hummingbird's wings. "It's the not-knowing," he said, "that's going to drive me insane." He took another step towards her, bringing his hand up as though he might touch her, as though he might reach out to stroke her cheek, to touch her arm. His hand faltered and dropped. "It's the what-if of the matter that's galling me."

Bella took a deep breath, and swallowed once, before speaking. "Did they tell you," she asked, "what happened with the last manager?" She watched as his face transformed from that fiery gaze he had fixed her with to a look of confusion. His brows knitted together, and his mouth turned down at the corners.

"What does that have to do wi-"

"It has everything to do with it," Bella said, softly. She was deadly serious. He had to know, if she was going to even consider proposing the insane idea that had popped into her head in the middle of his rant. The not-knowing would kill her too. She wanted to know. "You have to understand why no one here at CFG would be remotely okay with us 'holding hands and making discoveries'." The story left a bad taste in her mouth, and she didn't want to betray the confidence of her coworkers, but he was the manager after all. Didn't he deserve to know?

"Emmett said something about fondling, which, by the way, I would never do, even if I did somehow win a date with you." He shook his head in disgust. "That's harassment."

"You're right," she said, looking up at him. "And they're not the same thing, harassment and fraternization. So you're missing part of the story here."

Edward went back to pacing, occasionally stealing glances at Bella. "Was it you?" he suddenly asked, stopping short in the center of the aisle, not meeting Bella's gaze. "Did he… with you?"

Bella had expected this. Emmett was so angry, after all, of course one would assume something had happened with Alice, or Rosie, or even Bella. But Emmett was a softie. He loved the girls at customer service, had hand-selected each one to take the best care of their customers and personally oversaw their training in meetings with Bella. Any one of them getting hurt angered him beyond reason. Bella had never seen anything like it when he was firing Eric. It was the one time she had truly been scared of Emmett.

"No," she said. "It wasn't me. Do you want to know who it was?" She hoped he would say no. She didn't want him to see the sweet girl differently, she had suffered enough.

Edward raised an eyebrow at her. He almost looked disappointed. "No, not unless it interferes with me doing my job." He scoffed, a sound of disbelief. "I'm a little shocked you'd even tell me."

"I wouldn't," she said, a small smile forming on her face. "It's just polite to offer." He watched her as she slid toward the ground of the pathway, folding her legs and patting the floor beside her. He sat, stretching his long legs out in front of him. "Eric Yorkie," she said, gritting her teeth against his disgusting name and memory, "was the last customer service manager. Before you were hired, the non-fraternization policy was in effect, but viewed as common sense." She waved a hand in the air, as if to say, "duh." "It's in the handbook, and you sign it, but Emmett didn't go over it explicitly. So a lot of my team actually didn't know it existed. Eric," she continued, hating to even mention him, "asked one of my girls out, and she said yes. She didn't know. He did. He told her that they had to keep it secret so that he wouldn't be accused of favoritism, which is one of the actual reasons the policy exists. She agreed and they began seeing each other. But he was… insistent." She scowled at the memory, feeling bile rise in her throat. "He continued to date her, secretly of course. But he also snuck her into private spots to canoodle at work."

"Wow," Edward interjected.

Bella grimaced, but continued. "She felt bad about it. Employees are hourly, and she was technically getting paid to… well, you know. And she wanted it to stop, but he insisted that it be a secret, that he would get in trouble with the Cullens if she told, so she just went with it. She's kind of passive, but very sweet. She was so upset, when it all came out, because she had technically consented to everything, but he was using his position of power to get what he wanted. It was obvious. He made it seem like if she didn't go with him, he'd break up with her, and she didn't want to tell anyone in case he got in trouble, or in case she got in trouble for doing… stuff, during work.

"It was hideous. I walked into a cleaning supply closet to get some paper towels, because I had spilled coffee, and they were in there. She," Bella broke off, choking back angry tears. She took a single shuddering breath and continued. "She was crying. They'd been arguing again about what they were doing. She didn't want to, she was saying that the Cullens were good people, that they could just reveal themselves and it would all be fine. He was telling her that she was stupid and naïve to believe that. He was manipulating her."

"Jesus." Bella glanced at Edward, and saw his face set into hard lines of anger. "Yorkie, you said? Maybe Emmett and I…"

"Oh no, Emmett already did everything legally possible to kick his ass." Bella patted him on the arm, a comforting gesture. "He's gone now, don't forget. You're here, and you'd never-"

"No! God no, I _could never_!" He grasped her hand where it lay on his arm, giving it a squeeze and looking into her eyes. "You don't really know me, but please know-"

"I do," Bella said, giving him a soft smile. "Believe me, you had your chance last night, and you didn't take it. You're not like him." She squeezed his hand back and then took a deep breath. "Anyway," she said, "Emmett makes a big deal out of the policy now because he never wants any manager to abuse their position above the employees again. She insisted that no one press charges, that she was consenting, and that's why we bolstered the 'non-fraternization' concept. The best prevention is abstinence, after all. This way, any harassment will be labelled for what it is: a crime."

"It is a crime." Edward's face was still set in anger. Despite the murderous glare fixed in lace on his face, she found herself experiencing a swell of affection rising inside her. He was angry, furious, for a girl he didn't even know. "So, we could never date while we both work here then." He said it like a statement, like he understood, and Bella was relieved.

"Emmett, that big lug, would have a conniption," she said, smiling softly. He was so protective; it was so lovely when he wasn't effectively ruining her love-life. "Even though you aren't Eric, even though I know you wouldn't abuse your power, he would assume, because I am 'young and impressionable and inexperienced' that you were. That I just wouldn't be able to recognize it for what it is."

Edward frowned. "He doesn't really have much faith in you, does he?"

Bella sighed, thinking of her big-brother-by-proxy. "On the contrary, he has every faith in me. He just knows that I like to see the good in people, and that I don't really date very often. It would take some convincing, but eventually he'd be made to see it my way." She shook her head and let out a low chuckle. "Rosalie would slap it into him." She shrugged, and continued, "I'm just not sure you'd live long enough for me to convince him."

Edward laughed again, and Bella smiled in return. She really did love his laugh. "So, what now?"

Bella herself had been thinking of the same question. She had an idea, but was worried about how it would be received. "Well," she began, letting out her breath in a gust, "we can be friends."

"Lovely," he said, smiling wide. "Might I just say, I've never wanted to tackle one of my friends more than I do in this moment."

Bella blushed again and forgot to breathe. Goddamn that smile of his, she was going to pass out at this rate. She panted in a breath. "You _cannot_ say things like that," she said, "because if you do, _I'm_ going to tackle _you_." She shoved his arm and he swayed away from her, laughing. When he righted himself, she went on. "Plus, you didn't let me finish." He waved his hand in the universal "go on" gesture, and Bella rolled her eyes. "We can be friends, and get to know each other better, and go to the same functions or outings. God knows Alice will drag us to karaoke and Happy Hour and anything else she feels like." She started fidgeting, bouncing her knees up and down, wringing her wrists.

"And… if we still feel like… this. In a few months I'll… Well, I'll quit. And we can date."

Edward's mouth dropped open in surprise. "You can't!" he said, shaking his head. "You can't quit your job for _me_ , of all things! I don't deserve it, and to be honest, after you know me, really know me, you're not going to want me anyway."

"Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?" Bella replied sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, I can and will quit my job. I have more than enough in my savings to finish out school and start job-hunting when I pass the bar exam." She tilted her head to the side. "And you… you are kind, and interesting, and wonderful. Why wouldn't I want you?"

"Trust me. You won't," he said, looking down at his hands where they lay on his lap.

"I suppose we'll see, won't we?" she said. Bella was already pretty sure that after these next few torturous months, she was going to be sans one job.

"I guess so," he said, looking up into Bella's smiling face. He responded with a smile of his own. "Friends, then?"

"Friends," she said, standing and reaching down for his hand. "Let's get to work." He took her hand and stood. He used the hand holding Bella's to pull her closer, smiling when her face heated. He turned and started to pull her out of the stacks, releasing her hand only when they stepped out onto the sales floor.

 **A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed. Jessica next and a visit from Alice. Let me know your thoughts, I love to hear from you.**


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N: Well, hey there. I'm back. Thank you so much to everyone who wants to read this. I can't tell you what it means to know that people are enjoying something I wrote. Just know I appreciate it. Also last chapter I lied about Alice. She'll for sure be in the next one, but this chapter kind of got away from me. Just know that she exists and she's pissed about sleeping in her makeup!**

 **Disclaimer: I own all of the Twilight books, but the intellectual property belongs to smeyer, who, let's be real, doesn't write them into enough fun situations, so we gotta do it ourselves.**

*

Working with Bella was… interesting. To say the absolute least. After completing the tour of the store's two stories, she led him into the customer service area, a large back room that mirrored the store layout, with shelves holding the second floor items, and an arched pathway that led to a large countertop lined with thin, touch screen computers. The countertop was a large, squared-off "U" shape, with a wall of windows to the left, the store entrance and exit on the right, and looked out onto the store in front. Beyond the screens facing forward and to the right, Edward could see the vast displays of clothing, and beyond that could just make out the shelves of the literature section. Looking up, he could see the balconies on the second floor, with the large chandelier hanging down.

Technically speaking, the chandelier was for sale. Everything was for sale at Cullen's Fine Goods, except the employees, of course. The clientele, however, refused to buy it, Bella had explained. "It's just such a part of the store now that no one wants to take it. They like having it here. They associate it with us." She'd smiled up at the chandelier, the golden glow off of the crystals making her pale skin luminous. He was staring again, but he couldn't help it; she was beautiful. "Plus," she said, turning her smile toward him, "Who else has room for this monstrous two-story compatible chandelier in their home?" Her smile made him feel special, invincible, like he'd buy that chandelier if she asked him to.

Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium sold a hodge-podge of anything his uncle Carlisle could find at auctions, estate sales, and online. The luxury goods store was well-known in the community for having high end merchandise for affordable prices. Affordable for antiques, one-of-a-kind pieces, and designer labels, that is. The entire second floor was dedicated to antique and luxury furniture, home goods, and décor. Sold furniture remained on the sales floor with sold tags, while the other sold items from all departments made their way to the large customer service storage room to await pick up or delivery. Near the end of the tour, they'd run into a salesman on his way to put a cuckoo clock in the service room, and Bella had immediately fallen into an easy conversation with him, leading Edward back downstairs and into his new workspace.

"Ben, my guy, my pal, my best buddy, my –" she said after making introductions, her tone light and innocent, her face a perfect mask of girlish charm. Edward would've given her anything she asked for if she looked at him like that. It was going to be a serious problem if she ever discovered exactly how much power that look held.

"Bella, I cannot get Angie to switch again, she already traded Leah and Lauren this week," the salesman, Ben, replied. They approached a large service elevator, Edward assumed to move furniture, and Bella hit the button to call it angrily, jabbing it harder than necessary and then shaking her hand to relieve the sting of her attack on the innocent button. She swore under her breath, most likely with the intention to be quiet enough that they wouldn't hear, and Edward tried very hard not to laugh.

"Benji, please!" she said, pleading, cradling her jabbing hand to her chest with her non-jabbing hand. "Mr. Cullen put me on shift with Jess all week! I have to train Mr. Masen and she's just going to make it harder for me!" She glanced over at Edward, before turning her puppy-dog eyes back onto Ben, her cheeks slightly pink.

Ben began to laugh. "Don't… don't say… don't say that in front of Jess," he said, in between bursts of laughter.

"Oh, you think this is funny?" she asked. "You think she won't stand up there and joke about exactly how _hard_ she can make it and her _position_ in the company?!" She was pouting. She was hilarious and adorable, with her lower lip jutting out and her brow creased. Edward wanted to bite that pouting lower lip. _Get a hold of yourself. No. Not- not like that. Definitely not like that, here, at your job, where you're working, and getting paid, and not to do_ that.

Ben was still laughing as the elevator doors opened and all three of them stepped inside the shiny chrome box. "No, I know she _will_. Which is why I'm laughing." He shot Bella a wide grin, and Bella huffed.

"Isn't that… Isn't that harassment or something?" Edward asked, feeling sheepish and a little afraid. It sounded like they expected Jessica to hit on him, which he very much wanted to avoid. He didn't want any of his coworkers to hit on him, with one very notable exception, and his exception had told him that they were just friends for now, so there was no chance of that happening anyway.

"No!" Bella said, almost too quickly, as though she were desperate to cover for this Jess person. "No, no, no!" She wrung her hands, shifting from one foot to the other. "Jess is just… like that. She makes jokes, but that's all they are: jokes." She heaved a sigh. "She would never actually _mean_ them. In fact, one of the guys took her jokes too seriously and she had to explain to him that her entire humor base is built on phalluses. While Emmett supervised. She doesn't ever joke with the people who are uncomfortable with it."

"Why would she joke with me, then?" Edward was extremely confused now. He felt his forehead crinkle in concern. This girl didn't know him from Adam, why would she assume he was alright with phallic jokes?

"To test the waters." Bella hung her head and stared at her shoes, heaving a large sigh. "Angie, however, would never. _She_ would make this so _easy_ for-"

"No." Ben didn't even look at her, just watched as the elevator opened and began to step out.

"Damnit!" Bella shouted, stomping off the elevator. Edward followed, smiling. She really was cute when she was angry. Like a fiery little kitten. "Benji…" she whined, her voice going nasal and high pitched. It was somehow _still_ musical, which made Edward slightly annoyed. Why was he entirely incapable of controlling his body's reactions to this woman? Why did his body react so intensely in the first place? Her voice alone made his heart race and sounded like the best composition he'd yet to write. It was ridiculous, and frankly, embarrassing. He wasn't Ryan Gosling, for God's sake, he didn't need his life turning into a romantic comedy. It seemed like it may be quite too late for that, however.

"Bella, deal with Jess. You know you're the only one who can," Ben said, quirking a brow and stepping into the customer service room. He grabbed one of the rolling ladders and placed the cuckoo clock on a high shelf while Bella stood on the ground, looking like she wanted to do nothing more than kick the ladder. Edward was suddenly aware, watching their interaction, of how close Bella was with this "Benji" guy. He was a little jealous, he could admit, of their playful comradery. He hoped that now that they were friends, they could reach that level of comfort with each other. He also hoped that when Bella realized that he wasn't the guy for her, that he wasn't good enough, wasn't interesting or funny or whatever else she needed and deserved, that they could maintain that comfort.

"I am only one person! ARGH!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air and turning to Edward. He was smiling at her, very amused by her outburst. "Stop smiling, Chuckles, this is going to be hell," she said.

They suddenly heard a shout from the counter.

"Bella! What the fuck are you screaming for?!"

Bella smirked at Edward, who was gaping, openmouthed, toward the sound. Who screams that in the middle of a store?! Granted, they weren't open yet, but there were still people milling around.

"And _now_ you stop smiling," Bella said, sounding satisfied. "Good." Then she screamed right back toward the counter. "Watch your fuckin' language, Jess! We've got a guest!" Edward turned his horrified wide-eyed stare at Bella, who just winked. They suddenly heard the tapping of hard shoes on the marble floor.

A woman appeared at the entry to the back room. She had curly brown hair cut in shoulder-length layers. She was wearing the CFG employee blazer, just like everyone else he'd seen, but underneath she wore a low cut black dress and sky-high heels. Her makeup was perfect, not a line or lash out of place, and her name plaque read Jessica. Edward was instantly terrified of this woman. If she was on shift with he and Bella, as she and Emmett had mentioned, she would be standing in those shoes for eight hours, and she seemed totally unfazed by that fact. She was attractive, Edward supposed, but in an Alabama beauty pageant sort of way. She kind of reminded him of Victoria, actually. Something in her appraising eyes, the set of her mouth. It made him a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, we do," she said, giving Edward a once over. She turned to Bella. "I had a guest last night, too, but he didn't seem to mind my language."

Bella groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead. "Jesus H. Christ, Jess!"

"Language, Bella," she said with a predatory smile. "Gonna introduce me, or what?" Edward noticed that Jessica's voice was deeper than Bella's, only slightly, an alto or mezzo as opposed to Bella's soprano. They'd probably sound good singing together. Although he probably shouldn't be pondering that, he should be hiding from this intimidating woman.

Bella dragged her hand across her face. When she pulled it away he saw that her cheeks were tinged pink. "You already know Ben, Jess." Bella's lips twitched, as though she wanted to laugh, but her expression was still one of horrified resignation.

"Bella, what the fuck? Just introduce me," Jessica said, crossing her arms across her chest, causing her cleavage to very nearly fall out of her dress. Edward very carefully studied the detailing in his shirt cuff. It was a lovely paisley print. "It's rude if I gotta do it myself."

"Oh yes, _that_ would be rude," Bella said under her breath, shaking her head. Ben laughed behind them.

"Bye, Bells!" he shouted as he left. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Masen!"

Bella muttered something that sounded like "Druid men," but was probably "Stupid Ben," and then gestured toward Edward. "Jess, this is Edward Masen, our new customer service manager," she said. "Masen, as in Edward and Elizabeth Masen, _Mrs. Cullen's brother-in-law and sister._ " She gave Jessica a wide-eyed warning glare, as though reminding her that Mrs. Cullen's husband signed all of their paychecks. Jessica's eyes widened in response, and a smile formed on her lips.

"You sure look like you're related to Mrs. C," she said, smiling a wide, lascivious smile. "Goddamn, that's a hell of a gene pool."

Holy hell, Bella hadn't been kidding about Jessica's jokes. He felt the tips of his ears grow warm, but he was determined to give as good as he got. He didn't want to make a bad impression by being too harsh, but he knew he had to maintain some level of professionalism. So he did what anyone would do in that situation: he threw his cousin under a bus.

"Yeah, well, Emmett's adopted." He stuck his hand out for her to shake as she let out a laugh.

She snorted when she laughed, and didn't attempt to hide it. It made Edward feel a little more comfortable with her, like she was more human than plastic. He noticed that she had freckles, and that her eyes creased when she snorted. The more human she was, the better he felt. This woman couldn't be anything like Victoria; Victoria didn't laugh. He was optimistic that if this was the only employee Bella had been worried about, and she was just a normal girl who dressed scary and wore makeup, that the rest of his team would be regular people who were easy to work with. He was glad; he needed to get along with these people, and just getting along with Bella and his family would only end poorly.

"You're alright, Mr. Masen," Jessica said, shaking his hand. He couldn't help but compare it to his handshake with Bella. While this one held no sparks, no immediate overwhelming need, she did have a firm handshake. A good handshake.

"Nice to meet you Jessica. Please, I'd like my team to call me Edward." Jessica smiled, and shot Bella a look over his shoulder, her eyebrow raised almost comically high.

"Alright, Edward." She let him go and strode over to Bella. "Let me know if you need _anything_ , Bells," she said, her tone thick with meaning. "I wanna talk to you later, okay?" Her back was to Edward, but he saw Bella go beet red, and attempt to look at anything but him. It would be hilarious if he wasn't so worried she was going to give them away. He didn't want to get punched by Emmett. He wasn't sure he'd live through it.

"We'll see, Jess. I'm heading home at lunch so maybe call me? We'll see what Ali wants to do tonight." Bella seemed resigned, her shoulders slumped. She looked incredibly unsurprised by this turn of events, like she'd expected Jess's curiosity. Maybe she had. She _did_ say this shift was going to be hell.

"I'm holding you to it," Jess said, before turning and breezing past Edward back out to the counter, giving him a clap on the shoulder as she passed, heels tapping out a bouncy rhythm.

Bella sighed and her entire body slumped forward, as though she were relaxing after standing still all day. "Well," she said, "that went about a horribly as I was imagining."

"You and Alice going to hit the town tonight?" Edward asked, smiling down at Bella, who was still frowning at the space Jessica had just vacated.

She looked up at him, her expression momentarily dazed. She folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. "Nah. If Jess wants to talk… We'll order pizza and watch chick flicks. And I," she said, pausing and closing her eyes, "I will attempt to convince Jess that nothing's going on while Alice tries in vain to not destroy the kitchen making popcorn." She ran a hand through her hair, clutching tightly at the roots before following through to the ends.

"Wait, do you…" Edward had his suspicions, but it seemed they were being confirmed. "Do you _live_ with Alice?"

Bella nodded slowly, then her face scrunched in confusion. "Why?"

Edward started laughing, which seemed to provoke the angry kitten, who proceeded to slap his arm. "What's so funny?! Alice is my best friend. It's not so weird that we'd cohabitate."

"No, it isn't," he agreed, trying to reign in his laughter, shaking his head in disbelief.

She scowled at him, her eyes narrowed. "Then _stop_ laughing, and tell me what's going on!" She tapped her foot impatiently, and it almost set him off again. It was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.

He took a deep breath, but he was sure that he looked like a lunatic. He had a huge grin on his face, and his eyes were probably more than a little wild. He'd suspected, hoped maybe, but to have it confirmed… Well, he wasn't sure whether to be pleased or to have a breakdown right there in the service room, surrounded by antiques and designer clothes. Bella was probably going to choke again. He should prepare. What was the Heimlich again? He wasn't quite sure whether putting his arms around her would be helpful or not. Well, what were some neighborly anti-choking procedures between friends, anyway? They were friends now, after all.

"When I was apartment hunting," he said, after stifling his chuckles, "I used Alice as a reference. At her apartment building." He waited for the lightbulb to go off.

It did, almost immediately.

Bella gasped. "You don't mean-"

"Yep." He smiled wide at her, his grin devious. "Howdy, neighbor."

Bella laughed then, her giggles filling the cavernous room, their tone and pitch creating a melody Edward could listen to on repeat. "God…" giggle, "God himself…" snort, "is laughing…" full-blown laughter, "at me." She clutched her sides, and took several deep breaths, trying to reign herself in, it seemed. When she was down to a giggle every few seconds, she continued. "That is the only possible explanation for you being not only my new boss, but also my neighbor. He practically went, 'Hmmm, how else can I make her feel absolutely helpless?' and then he decided to put you in close proximity in every aspect of my life." She bent double, overcome with her giggle fit, before choking out, "And he made you say 'Howdy' like Walker Texas _freaking_ Ranger!"

Edward supposed he shouldn't be hurt by her comments. She thought he was a punishment from God to make her feel helpless, and to be frank, she was probably right. He wasn't good enough for her, still the universe was shoving them together at every possible opportunity. He was a little hurt, though. He couldn't help it, though he reasoned to himself that she was right. "Sorry to be such a burden," Edward said, frowning.

"You're not a burden," she said, her laughter ceasing with one abrupt hiccup. She looked at him, staring directly into his eyes, and she looked… She looked _hungry_. "The temptation is a burden. Breaking rules was never something I was interested in. Today I feel like arson, larceny, vandalism, and destruction of employee contracts would still leave me unsatisfied." Edward felt like he couldn't breathe when she talked about ripping up contracts and her level of satisfaction. He suddenly felt very warm, and he knew exactly what he could do to satisfy them both. He stopped himself from reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear, and Bella cleared her throat. "C'mon," she said, visibly shaking herself out of it and breaking their eye contact. "Let's learn the computer system, shall we?"

*

Bella had been teaching Edward the computer system and policy while occasionally helping a customer when Jess was busy, moving carefully around the counter, deftly retrieving merchandise and taking billing information without forgetting what she'd been showing Edward. It was nice, watching her work. She fit in like a round peg in a round hole. She was seamless. Almost every customer that came to the counter knew her by name, but what was impressive was that she also knew theirs. She was sweet with them, and joked and made pleasant conversation. She always introduced Edward.

He'd learned a few new distracting things about Bella during the last two hours. Her father was the police chief in a small town called Forks. She seemed unamused when he'd asked if the town of Knives was nearby. Her mother lived in Florida with her husband. She was a kindergarten teacher, he was a baseball coach for the local high school. Bella was an only child, and she had moved between houses until she was fifteen, when she went to stay with her father, Charlie, permanently. While she'd quizzed him on buttons, return procedures, and manuscript retrieval, he'd quizzed her on her life, question for question. Bella had glanced over at Jess every few minutes to make sure she wasn't listening. "It's not that she doesn't already know all of this, I just don't want you to get in trouble for personal talk on your first day," she'd said, her voice only halfway sarcastic, her eyebrow raised. So he'd switched from questioning to observation.

She leaned anywhere there was space to lean. Edward was convinced that this was because she could fall down standing up. He'd seen her trip on a power cord, a lumbar support mat, the ladder rungs, and her own two feet. And so she leaned. She leaned on the counter, head propped up on her hands, she leaned on the computer screen, her body creating an angle, one foot behind the other with her forearms crossed on top of the screen, she leaned against the wall next to the pathway to the back room, watching him as he learned which buttons did what and where the office supplies were, legs crossed at the ankles and hands behind her back. She even leaned onto one foot, hip cocked out and one hand resting on the countertop, the other planted on her hip as she watched him press buttons. She was a serial leaner.

He learned that she sang along to whatever music was playing in the store. Softly, so softly that most people wouldn't hear, she hummed the melodies, occasionally adding in the words. She tapped her fingers to the beat on some songs. He assumed they were the songs she liked, if her soft smile was anything to go by. Her foot tapped in time and she added harmonies to the tunes, her light soprano weaving into the soft music over the speakers. If a country tune started playing, he heard her humming an entirely different song, from an entirely different genre, as if to drown out the offending twanginess. Everything about her was soft when she sang, her features relaxed and her lips tipped upward, she was all rounded edges and muted angles, a legato movement against the staccato backdrop of fingers tapping at the computers.

She played with her hair, almost constantly. She moved it from one side to the other, she ran a hand through it, she pulled it up into a twist and secured it with a pen before she climbed the ladders to retrieve merchandise, she twirled a strand between her fingers, she tucked it behind her ears. It was incredibly distracting, and he was constantly fighting the urge to replace her hands with his own.

Bella's face was the most expressive face he'd ever seen. Every thought that she had flickered over her face as loudly as if she's said them aloud. If she couldn't remember a price for something, he could tell whether or not she was going to check on the computer or ask Jess before she ever opened her mouth. She'd glance between the two, chewing her lips, brow furrowed, and when she'd decided, she'd either roll her eyes (ask Jess) or scrunch her nose (check the inventory on the computer). When she almost tripped – incredibly often – or almost dropped something – less often, and so far nothing had hit the floor – her face practically screamed " _Yikes_ " with her eyes hugely wide, her eyebrows struggling to meet her hairline, her mouth set in a thin line.

And when she looked at him… It was the only time he was unsure what she was thinking. She looked proud when he proved to be a quick study, she looked annoyed when he teased her (mostly for tripping or almost tripping), she looked happy when they spoke of her family or his family, who she truly did love, and sometimes she looked almost confused, almost sad, almost longing. Almost like she wanted him, just as much as he wanted her. It made him feel the longing, too. Shouldn't he have more self-control than this? He'd met her yesterday, for God's sake, she shouldn't have this tight of a hold of him. Yet there he stood, wishing he could, what? Touch her hair? He needed to get a grip.

Shortly before eleven, while Bella was showing Edward how to look up the manuscripts in the stacks on the computer, they were interrupted by a voice from across the counter.

"Bella, my dear sweet girl, you introduce me to this young man this instant!" Bella looked up then, a huge smile already fixed on her face, her eyes patient and filled with affection. Edward stared, perplexed, at the woman standing at the counter. She was in her early sixties, with blonde hair streaked through with grey. She wore a smart pantsuit, and had spoken with a barely-there southern twang. She gave Edward a cursory glance, then fixed Bella with a benevolent stare.

"Mrs. Whitlock!" Bella said, bustling around the counter to give the woman a hug. "I wasn't expecting you today! You have to call me, remember?" Bella's tone was reprimanding, but light, and she waved an accusatory finger at the woman.

"But if I give you notice, how am I to know if that fool child of mine is doing his job right?" She kissed Bella on both cheeks, and leaned away from her, one eyebrow raised. Bella just giggled. "And exactly how many times must I beseech you to call me 'Dottie'! You're making me feel positively ancient with all of this 'Mrs. Whitlock' nonsense." She pulled her face into an exaggerated frown, giving Bella the evil eye.

"That 'fool child' of yours is late on my shipment. I've got deliveries, and I can't keep waiting on him to finish his sweet tea, or whatever it is he's doing." Bella rounded back to the other side of the counter as she spoke, then leaned forward on her forearms, cocked her head to the side, and fixed Mrs. Whitlock with a look that said, "but you already knew this". She drummed her fingers on the countertop, smiling softly at Dottie. "And, I'll call you Mrs. Whitlock until either I don't work here or you stop shopping here, whichever comes first."

"I knew it!" Mrs. Whitlock said, letting out a huff. "How did I ever convince y'all to hire him?"

Bella grinned. "Because despite his perpetual tardiness, he's the best we've had." She propped one foot behind the other, allowing her to lean closer to Mrs. Whitlock, and allowing Edward a spectacular view of her behind that he was trying and failing to ignore. "And you know it." Looking, not looking, glancing, staring at the floor, his shoes, his watch, her backside… _Stop!_

Mrs. Whitlock returned Bella's smile, nodding her head once before rolling her eyes. She stood straight, and leveled Bella with a patient stare. She stood silently, expectantly, for Bella, who looked as though she had no idea what Mrs. Whitlock wanted from her. "Well?" she said, exasperated. "Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to explain to me why you have a gentleman stalker?"

"Right!" Bella said, seeming to remember that Edward was there for the first time since this conversation had begun. Edward, for his part, tried not to be too offended by her stalker comment. He'd done no such thing. It was just a coincidence that they were at the same bar. That they worked at the same place…. That they lived in the same apartment building. But those were all _coincidence_. He hadn't devised it, dammit! "Mrs. Dorothea Whitlock, this is Mr. Edward Masen, our new customer service manager." She gestured first to the blonde woman, then to Edward. "Mrs. Whitlock has been a loyal customer since the Cullens moved here nine years ago. We hired her son, Jasper, to run our warehouse last May. He's in charge of the shipments." Edward nodded, wondering if Jasper also had a southern accent. How odd in the Pacific Northwest. "Mrs. Whitlock, Mr. Masen is Esme and Carlisle's nephew from Chicago. He just moved here." Bella smiled up at him, and Edward returned it, a reflex as natural as breathing.

He turned his smile onto Mrs. Whitlock, then. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Whitlock," he said, reaching his hand out for her to shake. She placed her hand in his, palm down, so he was grasping her fingers like she was a debutante. She stared at him appraisingly, her eyes flickering back and forth between him and Bella. She smiled, a wicked glint in her eyes.

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Masen." She turned to Bella, clutching her hand to her heart and heaving an exaggerated sigh. "Finally," she said, channeling her inner Sarah Burnhart, Edward thought, "some eye candy that can't hide out in the offices all day." She used her other hand to fan herself, and Edward felt his neck and ears start to burn. "I have been so tired of having you drag Emmett and Carlisle out here for me." Good Lord, was he not safe anywhere? "Although, you should still call them dear, I want to apologize on behalf of my punctuality-challenged son." Since when did people find him attractive? First Bella, then Jessica, now this woman. All in the span of two days. In the span of the last nine years he could count the women who'd found him attractive on one hand with fingers to spare, and now suddenly he can't step outside? It made no sense. Maybe the lighting was weird here in Seattle. Maybe the weather agreed with him?

Maybe… he'd been wrong? _She'd_ been wrong?

No, that couldn't be it.

Jessica had appeared from retrieving an item from the back room just in time to hear Mrs. Whitlock's last statement. "Oh sure, if I say it, it's 'inappropriate' and 'harassment', but she says it and it's 'charming' and 'funny'." She took the billing information from the customer in front of her, who appeared to be trying and failing to stifle his laughter. When she was finished, she turned back to them, striding over to hug Mrs. Whitlock over the counter. "It's that damn accent of yours. Maybe I should try it."

"Bless your heart, Jessica," Mrs. Whitlock said, smiling softly.

Jessica glared at her. "I know that's just South speak for 'shut up, you dumb bitch'," she said, pointing her index and middle fingers first at her eyes and then back at the woman, in the "I've got my eye on you," gesture.

"Jess!" Bella said, holding her head in her hands as Mrs. Whitlock burst into hysterics. " _Language_ , dude." Just then the phone started to ring, and, in what Edward guessed was a desperate attempt to escape, Bella hurried to answer it. Jessica continued her conversation with Mrs. Whitlock, and Edward nodded every so often, only half listening, more interested in Bella's phone conversation.

"J," she said, her tone low, "if this isn't you calling me to tell me that shipment is out for delivery I'm going to personally drive to the warehouse and castrate you." She paused as she waited for the response. "Jazz, listen, I need that order! It has like, seven items for our investors, three for Esme, and twelve! Yes! Twelve! For your mother! Who is _here_ , by the way, in the store, to torture me." She sighed heavily then, and leaned her head against the wall. Somehow she had managed to get the phone cord wrapped around her waist. This was definitely going to end in disaster. Edward started to edge his way over to her with a polite, "pardon me" gesture to the ladies chatting in front of him. Jess just glanced back at Bella and rolled her eyes, while Mrs. Whitlock smiled and waved her hand as if sweeping him away.

"Jasper!" Bella crowed, "Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you! Ugh, in the words of the immortal reigning Lorelai, 'I'm lovin' you like a two dollar hooker'… Yeah, yeah, shut it. Bye! See that shipment in _fifteen_ Jas, do you hear me?! _Fifteen_!"

She went to hang up the phone but Edward got there first, carefully removing it from her grip and swinging it around her body to unravel the cord. He handed it back to her and she hung up, smiling sheepishly. "So," he said, grinning down at her, "a 'two dollar hooker' huh?"

"Shut up."

Edward laughed and after a beat Bella joined in. The sound of their laughter combined made Edward's stomach do a somersault.

"Would you look at them, all friendly-like," Mrs. Whitlock said, her voice breaking through the sound of their giggles, her tone wistful.

"I've been looking for two hours Dottie," Jess responded, rolling her eyes once again. "My eyes hurt from how shiny they are."

"I'm allowed to like the boss! I like the Cullens too, remember?" Bella said, folding her arms across her chest. It lifted her breasts, and quite frankly, Edward didn't need the stimulation, so he instead studied the closest touch screen to him, intent on mashing buttons. "And I like Carmen, and Eleazar," she added, sounding confident in herself, though Edward knew she was probably worried that they somehow knew. Hell, for all Edward knew, maybe they did. The bar was pretty dark.

"Oooookay, Bells," Jess said, rolling her eyes and then shooting Dorothea a significant look.

"Whatever," Bella said, striding over to her screen (their screen, he guessed) and turning to stare down the two gossiping women. She struck a dramatic pose, crossing her legs and leaning her head onto her open palm, elbow resting on the counter, propping her other hand on her hip. She looked incredibly indecent and a strip of bare skin appeared at her waist above her jeans from her crazily akimbo arms. He was mesmerized by that strip of pale skin. "You're both just jealous 'cause _he's_ my shadow this week, which means I'm paying less attention to you two." She raised an eyebrow and shot a malicious grin at the two women.

Dorothea burst into laughter. Jessica started sputtering and choking on air, unable to get enough oxygen into her respiratory system to laugh. "Bella, darlin', please don't ever do that again," Dorothea choked out. "Your feminine wiles are too much for me."

Edward didn't see what was so funny. He found her wiles incapacitating. He just stood there, stock still, eyes trailing Bella as she stood straight and wagged her brows at Jessica, causing the curly-haired woman to nearly topple over in hysterics. Bella didn't seem at all deterred by the women's critical laughter or Dorothea's comments. She sashayed over to Jessica, putting an extra sway in her hips and tossing her hair, before helping Jess up. Edward knew she was joking, but Jesus, she didn't need to joke so _well_.

"Bella, I'm in love with you," Jessica said, still clutching Bella's arm for support. Bella beamed down at her and then puckered her lips out in a kiss-me face. "Marry me," Jessica managed to say, her laughter reignited by Bella's clear acceptance of her affections.

"Okay, but I want the prettiest dress." Bella winked and let Jess go to head back over to her screen.

"Oooh, you found my one deal breaker." Jessica was still laughing, undercutting the sentiment.

Bella stuck her tongue out at Jessica. "Oh no, I am so sad. So very sad," she said, voice devoid of emotion. She turned and shot Dottie a wicked glare. "As for you," she said, inspecting her nails, keeping her expression bored, "you better be nice to me or I'm not going to call Carlisle or Emmett to come down here and say hi to you."

Dorothea attempted to stifle her laughter, holding up three fingers in the Girl Scout Salute. "Scout's honor," she said, with the over-wide smile of recent laughter, "I'll be good."

Bella narrowed her eyes at her for a brief moment, and Dottie schooled her features into a serious expression, her fingers remaining high in the salute. Bella's face broke into a smile then, radiating more light than the chandelier. "Okay, then," she said, taking skipping steps back over to the phone, before snatching up the receiver and dialing an extension. She listened for a moment, before speaking in an exaggerated Southern twang. "Hey there, Gronk, giddy-up on out here, you've got yerself some company." Dottie threw a mint from her purse at Bella's head, missed, and it landed near Bella's hand on the counter. Bella laughed as she unwrapped it and popped in into her mouth. "Yeah pardner," she said. She turned back to them, Dottie glaring, Jess cautiously amused, apparently trying not to get on Dottie's bad side. Edward was outright chuckling. She was too good at that voice. "Emmett's gonna grab his dad and head over," she said, smiling sweetly at Mrs. Whitlock as Edward struggled to breathe.

Mrs. Whitlock apparently got tired of getting no remorse out of Bella with her glare, so she turned it on Edward. "It's impolite to laugh at people, young man," she said, narrowed eyes sparking with amusement despite the hard set of her jaw.

Edward straightened up and tried to keep his giggles to himself. "You're right, Miss," he said, keeping his tone remorseful. "But that was such a pale, terrible imitation of your accent that I couldn't help myself." He was lying, of course. Bella's accent was excellent, albeit much more pronounced than Mrs. Whitlock's.

Mrs. Whitlock laughed then, shaking her head at Edward. "Oooh, you are _trouble_ , you are," she said, pointing an accusing finger his direction. "You're a downright charmer!"

Edward just stared back, face full of innocence, eyes wide and dismayed as he pointed one long finger at himself. "Me?" he asked, scoffing once for good measure. "No ma'am. Just respectful of ladies, like yourselves." Jessica snorted out a laugh then, and Bella joined in.

"Trouble," Mrs. Whitlock reiterated, and then laughed along with the ladies.

They were interrupted by Emmett and Carlisle arriving at the counter.

"What the hell, Edelman?" Emmett asked. Edward thought at first that Emmett meant him, that this was just another idiotic nickname based off of his actual name, but Emmett's eyes were fixed onto Bella, who was still leaning with one hand on Jessica's arm and the other on the counter, laughing.

She straightened up and took a deep breath to steady herself, swiping her fingers under her eyes to catch any leaking moisture. "Hey, Gronk," she said, smiling wide. "Edward here was just entertaining us with his abundant respect for women." Emmett raised an eyebrow and Edward shrugged. He couldn't explain their laughter even if he tried. "And no, before you ask, that isn't a euphemism," she said, holding her hand out as if she could physically stop Emmett's comments from escaping his mouth. Her assertion renewed the ladies' giggles, and Jessica let out another snort.

"And that means… ?" Carlisle asked, raising his own brow and staring curiously at his nephew.

Edward just smiled. Moving had been the right decision.

*

 **A/N: Before you ask, it is late August in the story. Meaning Jasper's been there for like, three months and still hasn't met Alice. So, look forward to _that_ one. Let me know your thoughts, guys? Who wants to know what Jess and Dottie think? Who wants more Emmett, Rosie, and some Esme and Carlisle? Yeah, me too. Sending love! 3**


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N: Hi... this one got away from me, so, have a chapter. Real life is kicking my ass, so sorry for the slowness of the update. Listen, there's a lot of Edward talk in this chapter, but I want to make it clear that this story WILL pass the Bechdel test. I have an incredible cast of females to work with here, and they will have sisterhood moments that aren't about boys. This particular one they're about to have just was.**

 **SPOILER ALERT: RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 SPOILER IN THIS CHAPTER! If you haven't finished the game or seen the memes, do not read this yet!**

 **Disclaimer: Steph owns the characters and I own enough retail stories to make you want to commit violent crimes.**

*

When Bella arrived home for her lunch break, the first thing she noticed was the smell. When she'd told Alice to make them something good, it was generally understood that it meant _Alice_ would do none of the actual making. She would do the ordering or the reheating. So, the enticing smell of moo shu pork and broccoli beef from the girls' favorite Chinese delivery place assaulted Bella's nose, and then she saw the pristine white take-out containers arranged neatly on the small dining table, chopsticks at Bella's place setting and a fork at Alice's. No matter how many times Bella tried to teach her to use them, Alice insisted that "if God wanted me to struggle getting noodles into my mouth, He wouldn't have created forks."

What Bella did not see, however, was Alice.

"Ali?" Bella set her bag on the floor of the entry and put her CFG blazer on the hook by the door. No response. She moved from the living room into the dining area, and swiveled her head to peek into the kitchen. No Ali there, either. She tread lightly down the hall and opened Alice's bedroom door – still no Alice. When she exited Alice's disaster of a room, she shook her head slightly, and that's when she noticed it. The door to _her_ room. Wide open. Bella shrugged once and then entered her room, babbling all the way. "Ali, you gotta answer me, you know, you could have been dead and then I would have to eat all the food and I'd get fat and no man would ever – what's that?"

Bella stopped short when she saw Alice on the edge of her bed, still rumpled from her swift exit this morning, although the pile of laundry was gone. Put away, probably, by a remorseful Alice trying to make up for a night of debauchery. She didn't look up when Bella entered the room, but sat staring at a small square of paper in her hands, her grin so devilishly wide that Bella was actually more than a little frightened. "Ali…" she said, cautiously, approaching slowly and craning her neck to look at the paper – a napkin. A napkin with neat handwritten words… _oh shit!_

"Bella," Alice said, finally looking up into her roommate's tomato red face, "are we going to be cousins?" Bella actually slapped a hand to her forehead and groaned aloud. This was definitely not what she'd expected to find when she came home, but with her luck today, she should have guessed. "Oh what am I saying? Of course we're going to be cousins! You know, I always told mom that I thought you'd be perfect for Edward, but he was with that _horrid_ redhead, and I… Bella are you okay?"

Bella had sunk to the floor during Alice's mini-rant, and she currently had her head between her knees and was trying to take deep breaths and not throw up. She couldn't believe this. First she had to deal with the sexual omniscience of Jess, and now of course Alice would find the napkin. The stupid napkin, with his stupid number, in his stupidly perfect handwriting, giving her stupid butterflies in her stupid stomach just thinking about it. Of course she did, because the universe obviously wanted Edward to get decked by his own cousin, or it wanted them both to be jobless, or it just wanted Bella to light herself and the entire building on fire.

"Can we please…" she started, her voice muffled against her legs and the floor, "like, _never_ speak of this?" She knew this was a vain hope, and that Alice would worry at this like a starving dog with a bone, but she had to ask.

She heard Alice scoff derisively, then start giggling. "Hell no, Bells." Bella lifted her head and leveled a glare at Alice, who just giggled harder. "So, when did my cousin give you his number? He didn't do it at work, right? God, that would be so awkward. But it _is_ Edward, who _is_ awkward, so maybe he – "

"No!" Bella interrupted Alice's nonsensical ramblings. Half because Bella needed Alice to stop talking about this if she wanted to maintain sanity, and half because she was getting a little offended on Edward's behalf. Sure, he was a little stiff at first, but he was interesting and lovely, not awkward. "No, he did not give it to me at work! Jesus, Ali, you know he wouldn't… and… anyway… I demanded it, he didn't give it to me. Last night." She ran her hand through her hair, tugging hard at the roots, using the sting to ground herself. She sent Alice the evil eye. "Thanks for the heads-up about the new management, by the way, I super appreciate being blindsided by the guy I flirted with and kissed last night being not only my boss, but my roommate's cousin and – oh _yeah!_ – _new neighbor._ " She grimaced the second the words left her mouth, her breathing coming in heavy pants as her anger drained and was quickly replaced with dread. She'd just colossally fucked up, and she knew it. She only had to wait a nanosecond for the squealing.

"The guy you _what?!_ " Alice shrieked, bouncing up and down on Bella's bed so hard Bella was afraid it would break. "Okay, you slut, I need details!"

Bella rested her fingers on her temple, struggling to maintain her composure. She wanted nothing more than to push Alice out of her room, flop onto her bed, and never leave again. Instead, she did the only thing she could do: deflect.

"Alice, it's not nice to slut-shame." She didn't even look at Alice. She didn't need to. She knew that Alice was still bouncing, she could hear her bed squeaking. She could imagine her face was still just as excited as it had been.

"I'm not _shaming_ , doofus, I'm _proud_." The squeaking stopped, and Bella found herself being tugged unceremoniously to her feet by surprisingly strong arms. She found herself face to face with Alice, who, despite the dark circles under her eyes, looked radiant. Her short hair was perfectly styled, and she was dressed smartly for work in her heels and pencil skirt, paired with a CFG navy blouse. Her makeup, while unable to hide the leftover hangover bags, was perfect, and Bella noticed for the first time that Alice, Esme, and Edward all had the same stunning green eyes. She wondered briefly if Edward's mother did too. She couldn't remember from the shower if she did or not. Alice was grinning like a lunatic. "Now, details!" she said, pulling Bella out to the dining area and plopping her into a chair. "Why do you look like this news personally shot your puppy? Is he a bad kisser?"

Bella shot Alice a disbelieving look, her mouth slightly agape. "You have to be kidding," she said, raising an incredulous eyebrow at her roommate. "Remember Dorkie?"

Alice waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, but Edward isn't like that!" She grabbed her fork and shoveled what should have been too many noodles for her mouth into her gaping food trap. Seriously, Bella was more than a little concerned about the way the Cullen siblings could pack it away.

Bella sighed, unsure how to voice her concerns. "I know that, and you know that, and I'm sure really, _really_ deep down Emmett knows-"

"Oh fuck!" Alice yelled with her mouth full of chow mein. It was terrifying to watch. "Emmett would kill him," she said after finally swallowing, her eyes wide and a little panicked. "He loves Edward, but he loves you too, and he's got that protective thing about us ladies, and Edward hasn't really been around…" She twisted more noodles onto her fork, her face pensive. She chewed her next bite thoughtfully, her perfect brows furrowed together.

"And, you know, it's against CFG rules," Bella added, pointing a broccoli head at Alice with her chopsticks before popping it into her mouth.

Alice grimaced. "What are you going to do, then?" she asked, reaching for the container of orange chicken.

"I really have no idea, Alice." Bella ignored the rules of table manners and thunked her elbow onto the table, resting her cheek onto her hand and closing her eyes. "Can we talk about it later? Jess wants to come over tonight, and I feel like she knows."

Alice laughed, and Bella opened her eyes and grinned as best she could with half of her face smushed into her hand. "If you were both in her presence, she knows," she said, smiling knowingly. Bella just rolled her eyes.

"Tonight then." Alice sat up straighter, and speared a large piece of orange chicken, popping it into her mouth with purpose.

*

Bella and Alice arrived back at CFG with ten minutes to spare before Bella had to head back to the service desk. She decided to spend them in Rosie's office, chatting about nothing in particular. They talked about Henry, Rosalie and Emmett's two and a half year old son, and how he was faring at the home daycare run by Sue Clearwater, the mother of two of their customer service reps. Apparently Henry had taken it upon himself to help Mrs. Clearwater care for the "baby babies" or any child who was physically smaller than him. Considering he had Emmett's genes, this was every other child at the daycare under the age of four. He took particular care with Maggie Weber, Angie's four month old daughter.

"Yesterday, Sue found him combing her hair while she had tummy time," Rosalie said, before letting out a hearty laugh. Her favorite subject was Henry. She seemed so proud that her son was acting so caring and responsible. "When I dropped him off today, I got there at the same time as Angela. She had a doctor's appointment." Rosalie's eyes slid down, and she heaved a sigh. Bella took a sip of her Coke, and ran a nervous hand through her hair.

"She's fine, Rosie. She's going to be fine." Bella's hand reached across the desk to grasp Rose's. Rose squeezed her hand.

She took a deep breath, shook her head, and continued. "Anyway, Henry ran away from me to help with Maggie's car seat, screaming, 'Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!' the entire way into Sue's place." She laughed, regaining a bit of her humor. She released Bella's hand and folded her hands atop the desk. "So, how's Edward doing?" she asked, effectively changing the subject.

Bella felt herself flush at the mention of Edward, and her terse worry for Angela's mental stability fled. Angie was doing much better now, and Bella was sure she was going to be perfectly fine anyway. She just always worried about her sweet, quiet friend whenever she had a therapy appointment. They made her quieter for the day, but she felt wonderful the rest of the week. She focused instead on trying to control her rampant blushing, and answering Rosalie's questions, both verbal and gestural, as she was staring at Bella with both eyebrows raised, her eyes probing. She took another sip of Coke and cleared her throat.

"He's uh," she started, playing with a strand of her hair, eyes cast down onto her twining fingers, "he's a fast learner. Works well on the computer system, and seems to get along well with the employees he's met and the customers we've helped. He seems to fit."

"Well, that's good," said Rosie, taking another stab at her home-cooked lunch: chicken and rice, packed and cooked by Emmett, who was a surprisingly good chef.

"Yeah… it's, uhm, it's great," Bella replied, smiling softly and keeping her eyes on her fingers.

Rosalie reached across the desk and removed Bella's fingers from her hair, prompting Bella to look up at her. Rosalie looked halfway amused, halfway concerned, her brow furrowed, but her lips curving up slightly at the corners. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Bella's eyes widened as she feigned innocence. She should have known better than to try and dupe Rosie.

"Avoiding eye contact, and fidgeting," Rosalie rolled her eyes at Bella's expression. "What's wrong? Does he have an annoying habit, like you with the fidgeting? Is he making you uncomfortable?"

Bella sat up stick straight. "No! God no, Rosie, _no_. It's not that. He's great, really." She chewed her lip, hoping that Rosalie would let it drop.

She did not. She stared Bella down, her eyebrow raised, and let Bella sweat it out.

"Oh my God, stop! I can't take the silent People's Eyebrow thing!" Bella covered her face with both hands and could feel her face heating underneath her palms. What the hell was she supposed to say? The truth? " _Oh hey, your cousin in law is the most attractive man I've ever seen_ "?!

"What was that?"

Oh for fuck's sake, had she said that out loud? Bella dragged her hands from in front of her face through her hair, before resting them on her cheeks, refusing to meet Rose's eyes. "He is… uhm… attractive, I suppose… if you're… uhm, into that, I guess," she mumbled, hoping that Rosie would hear her and then allow Bella to run far, far away from this room. "I really gotta get back out on the floor so, uh, bye!" Bella started to get up out of the chair she was draped in across the desk from Rosalie. Her leg got stuck on the arm of the chair where it had been hanging, and she almost toppled out of the chair. She righted herself, sitting straight and starting to stand one more, before Rosalie stopped her.

"Bella sit your ass back down," she said, jabbing her pointer finger at Bella, a huge smile on her face. "So?"

"Don't make me say it again," Bella pleaded. Rosalie didn't respond, just kept right on smiling. "Fine!" she said. She held her breath, her lips pursed tightly together as though she could hold the words inside. They burst forth on a gust of breath. "He's so hot I want to cry!" Her chest heaved with her breath, coming fast as her face flushed and she wrung her hands, her eyes darting all over the place.

"Well, then at least enjoy the view, Bells," Rosalie said after a beat, letting out a burst of laughter. "I love you kiddo, but you know Emmett would freak if anything happened." She gave Bella a hard stare, her face set into an apologetic expression.

Bella finally met Rosie's eyes, matching her frown. "I know," she said, running a hand through her hair roughly. "I know… and don't call me 'kiddo'. You're only four years older than me."

"Well," Rosie said, "four years is a lot of living." She smiled then, making the room feel bright. "Just try not to cry in his presence, and keep doing good work. It'll all turn out the way it's supposed to." She reached out and snagged Bella's Coke, taking a huge gulp before handing it back to Bella. "Now get to work!"

"You're the worst," Bella said, wiping lipstick off the top of her Coke can. There was a knock on the door, and Bella stood to open it, turning back to stick her tongue out at Rosalie. She threw the door open wide, turning to greet their guest, expecting Carlisle or Emmett or Esme.

It was Edward. "Hey," he said, his eyes doing that sparkle thing they sometimes did when he looked at her. "I was looking for you," he said, leaning around her to wave to Rosie. "I am a hundred percent lost out there without you." He smiled that wide, crooked smile, and Bella was sufficiently dazzled. She couldn't think of a single coherent response.

"Can't have that," Rosie said from her desk, presumably to cover for Bella's silence. "Go get em, kids!"

Edward laughed. "Rosalie, you're two years older than me, calm down." He rolled his eyes at Bella, which made her giggle, finally breaking her out of her trance.

"You're twenty-six, huh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're old."

Edward put a hand over his heart, doing his best to look offended, mouth agape and eyes glaring. "I resent that, Miss Swan. I am young and spry!"

"Could you guys take this out of my office?" Rosalie asked. "Some of us plan to actually work today!" Bella stuck her tongue out at Rosie once more, who just laughed and made shooing motions with her hands. Never taking her eyes off Rosalie, and keeping her tongue defiantly sticking out, Bella thrust her hand out behind her and connected with Edward's upper arm, pushing him out of the office. Rosalie raised her eyebrows suggestively, and Bella shot her the bird with her free hand. Rosalie was still laughing as Bella followed Edward out of the office, her hand never leaving his arm.

After she slammed Rosie's door shut, she dropped her hand. "I am not old," Edward insisted, shooting Bella another glare.

"No, I suppose you have yet to reach geriatric status," Bella responded, smiling up at him. "Come on, then," she said, leading him out of the break room and onto the floor. He kept a steadying hand at the small of her back until they reached the first racks of clothing.

*

The rest of the day passed in a blur of training, customers, and stolen glances full of affection. When Edward correctly remembered a policy, or found the correct button on the system right away, she couldn't help but praise him, beaming up at him with pride. When she tripped, he steadied her, when she interacted with customers, she could feel him watching her, studying her, and when she went to fetch merchandise, he held the ladder. He was the perfect work partner. He was intuitive to her needs, learned quickly, and worked well with Jess, Seth, and Lauren. The last two had come in right before their lunch break, and Edward and Seth bonded almost immediately over some video game they were obsessed with.

"Yeah, and when I found out he had tuberculosis, I cried!" Seth was saying near the end of Edward and Bella's shift. They had talked about nothing but this game all day, and Bella had mostly been tuning them out. But this last comment led Bella to have an "a-ha" moment. She knew this game!

"OHMYGODSPOILERS!" she yelled, whirling on Seth and Edward's animated discussion of which gun was better: Jim "Boy" Callaway's or Billy Midnight's. "Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!" she said, covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut on the men's shocked faces. Jessica was laughing at her at her computer screen, her adorable (in Bella's opinion) snorting breaking its way through Bella's tight hold on her ears.

"I'm only on chapter three, you shut your mouths this instant!" she said loudly, so that she could hear over her vice grip on her head.

"You're playing Red Dead?" Seth asked incredulously, while Edward just stared at her, his eyes full of… pride? Almost. Like pride and maybe a little reverence. How extremely caveman. Girls play video games too, and she didn't play to win the approval of men or to seem like a "cool girl". She played because it was fun!

"Yeah, you goof, and like I said, I'm only on chapter three, so _shut. Up_." She glared at them, willing them to stop being so intolerably male.

"The game has been out for over a week," Edward pointed out, apparently ignoring her anti-male gaze. "Why are you only at chapter three?"

Bella sighed and shook her head. "I'm playing with Alice. Every few minutes she forces me to make a waystop at a tailor to change my outfit."

She ran a hand through her hair and made her way over to the pen cup by the phone, depositing her pens. "I may be slow, but I have the best-dressed Arthur Morgan in the entire game."

She logged her holds in the computer, making sure that Edward was watching her work. She showed him how to log off the computer, then briefed Lauren on what was happening the rest of the day. "Please tell Jasper that if I don't get that final shipment he's going to wake up with a horse head in his bed."

"That sounds like something maybe you should tell him yourself," Lauren said, looking a little bored. She was staring at her cuticles, not bothering to look up as Bella gave final instructions.

"You're right," Bella said, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. "I'll text him now." She tapped on her phone, searching her contacts for Jasper's name. She felt Edward sidle up behind her, reading over her shoulder. She hit the button for a new text, reading aloud as she typed, "Get… me… that shipment… or I will… curse… your first-born… children… Do you… hear… me, Sandy… Cheeks?"

"Sandy Cheeks?" Edward asked.

"It's from Spongebob." Bella craned her head to get a look at him without turning her body. He was smiling again.

"I know," he said. "Spongebob premiered when I was nine. I have seen it." He was smirking now, and his proximity and that cocky little smirk were getting to Bella. She felt her face flush for what had to be the forty seventh time that day. "Time to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, barely above a whisper.

"Bella, you little shit, get over here!" Jess said, from her computer. Bella shot Edward an eye roll and headed over. "Eight o clock, tonight, at your place," she said lowly, still logging her own holds. "I need pizza and info."

Bella smiled at Jess before glancing back at Edward, who was apparently waiting for her before leaving. Alright, so maybe caveman tendencies came with some chivalry, which Bella could definitely deal with. "Yeah," she said. "I'm telling you the same thing now that I'll say later: nothing's up."

"That's what your mouth says but your eyes are giving off sex-vibes." Jess raised her eyebrow at Bella, who choked on air.

"Jesus, Jess, I am going home, and so are you." Bella started to turn, before remembering an idea she'd had earlier. "Dance Moms marathon?" she asked Jess.

"Fuck. Yes. The seasons with pre-Sia Maddie though, those new girls suck. I mean, JoJo? NoNo thanks." Jessica's smile took up her entire face, and she nodded enthusiastically. "My entire goal in life is to be Christi."

"I'll always be the Kelly to your Christi."

"Damn right you will."

Bella smiled, then rejoined Edward and they headed back toward the office.

"So," he said, bumping her elbow with his, "what are you going to tell her?"

Bella opened and closed her mouth several times before responding. "I… do not know." Edward started laughing at her, but stopped when she elbowed him in the ribs. "I'm going to lie, or I'm going to tell the truth, and hope for the best."

Edward grabbed her arm gently and turned her toward him. "Wouldn't telling the truth be, I don't know, a terrible idea?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe, or maybe they'll keep it to themselves?" She was shrugging when she noticed his shocked face. "What?"

" _They'll_?" he asked, mouth dropping open between words. "There's a _they_?"

"Oh yeah," she said, resuming their trek to the office. "Ali found that napkin you gave me last night."

Edward was still several paces behind her. He rushed to catch up, muttering under his breath about getting punched and Alice's big fat mouth. "Wow, we are screwed," he said aloud when he caught up to her.

"I think that's the most vulgar language I've ever heard you use." Bella was smiling now, figuring that the chips were going to fall wherever they may. Might as well enjoy the journey, she supposed, while she was on it. This was definitely a roller coaster of a day, and Bella had always loved roller coasters.

"Yet," he said, and then it was Bella's turn to fall several steps behind, imagining vulgar language and Edward and vulgar _things_ and Edward and her face was more flushed than it had been all day. She ran to catch up. "So, you really think we can pull this off?" he asked, when she was in step with him once more.

"I think that we already inadvertently broke the rules, so a couple of people knowing isn't going to kill us." She thought for a moment. "Well, it won't kill me. Emmett might murder you."

"Well," he said, looking from left to right, and finding the aisle empty, reached for her hand, "if I'm going to die, might as well enjoy my final moments." He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips against her knuckles. His eyes bore into hers, and her breathing picked up to compensate for the lack of oxygen reaching her brain. His lips were exactly as soft as she remembered them. She had not hyped it up in her alcohol stupor. He smiled at her. "We still can't date, can we? Not even if they know about last night."

"Nope!" Bella wasn't about to break a binding employee contract just to find out exactly how vulgar Edward's language could get. She really wanted to, but she knew it was better to wait. They didn't even really know each other. Sure, he knew some of her background after their conversations today, and she knew some of his because she had been hearing about him for the last six years from Esme, who was incredibly proud of him. In retrospect, she was a little embarrassed she hadn't recognized him. He was in a lot of the pictures in Esme's office. In the pictures though, he was wearing glasses, and his hair was shaggier, less neatly-cut.

She didn't know anything real about him though. What was his dating history like? Why did he think she wouldn't want him? What were his values? How many kids did he want? Where did he see himself in five years? Bella could answer these questions and more if they were asked about Jessica, Alice, Angie, Rosie, Emmett, Esme, Carlisle, and half of her team, and several salespeople. But for Edward they were still a mystery. She knew they should let their friendship progress, even though all she really wanted to do was jump him in the middle of this Dior display.

"Thought so," he said, smiling sadly. "Guess I'll just have to get to know you with my words and not my lips."

"That was incredibly corny."

"Oh, it gets cornier." Bella laughed at that. He did seem to have a penchant for old-fashioned romantic language. "Watch this: 'Your beauty is effulgent.'"

Bella snorted loudly. "You can't rip off William the Bloody like that! He worked very hard on that poem."

They stood there smiling stupidly at each other. He still hadn't let go of her hand. She was pretty sure the fire had left an irreparable burn where he held her, but she didn't particularly care at that moment. Friends could hold hands, right? She and Alice had held hands in clubs and bars and that one time at Disneyland, so they wouldn't lose each other. She felt a little lost now, so close to Edward.

"You're a _Buffy_ fan," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"What's not to like about vampires? Strong, cool, immortal, _and_ girls like them." He waggled his eyebrows at her, crooked grin fixed in place on his face.

Bella let out a giggle. "Calm down there, Lestat. Do you know how hard it is to adjust a sleep cycle to be nocturnal? And I love sleep. There's no way the friendship would last." She shook her head at him. "Plus, I'm really looking forward to being a crazy old person, aren't you?"

"Oh man, that's going to be the highlight of my life." He affected an old man accent, quavering voice and grumpy expression and hunched back and all. He waved the pointer finger of his free hand in her face. "Get off of my lawn missy, and take your little hoodlum friends with you!"

Bella burst into hysterics. "Okay, Old Man River, let's get out of here." He led them through the clothing toward the office, only letting go when they cleared the racks. It seemed to be a pattern with him, touching her when they were alone. She hoped he never stopped.

*

When Bella got home that day, she decided to clean the apartment before Jess came over. It wasn't like Jess actually cared if the place was clean; Bella just felt better knowing it was. So, she put on a sweatshirt, threw her hair up with a hair stick, and she set to her tasks, putting a playlist of Queen music that she always cleaned to on the stereo from her phone. She cranked the volume and started on the kitchen.

She was singing along and dancing with the vacuum to "Radio Gaga" when there was a knock at the door. Or several knocks at the door. She couldn't actually be sure over the dulcet tones of Freddie Mercury and the roar of the vacuum. She reached for her phone to pause the music, and then rushed to answer the door.

"Hey sorry! Was it too loud, I can-" she said, opening the door in apology mode, but cut off when she saw who was standing on the other side of her door.

"Hi," Edward said, smiling at her. He took in her messy hair and sweatshirt ensemble, and his smile widened. "What are you doing?"

"Uhm, moshing to Queen with my vacuum," she said, looking at her socked feet, noticing for the first time today that her socks had little turtles on them. The turtles were wearing sunglasses and had margaritas in their hands. Well, _that_ was embarrassing.

"As much as I wish I could see that," he started, and Bella slapped him on the shoulder, causing him to laugh, "I came over to see if you or Alice had a spare key to the laundry room. Mine is somewhere in another dimension where I cannot find it, and I need to do laundry right about… yesterday." He was still smiling at her, and her head felt a little fuzzy.

She realized that she had yet to respond about two ticks too late. She shook her head lightly to clear it, and then said, "Yeah, hang on. Come on in. How'd you know which apartment was ours?" Edward followed her into the apartment, looking around with interest.

"Alice texted me the number when I first moved in. She said to stop in if I needed anything. She also said her roommate was very accommodating, which I can personally confirm to be true." Bella rolled her eyes as Edward gestured to the living room. "Where did you guys get this furniture?" he asked, looking at the hodgepodge mixture of the modern sectional against the wall facing the TV, the utilitarian barstools at the breakfast bar to the right of the couch, and the mismatched antique console and coffee tables. They also had antique lamps and a short solid oak bookshelf that divided the entry from the living room, facing the breakfast bar, but it was easy to see over and through, its cubbies entirely backless. He lifted a candle from the shelf, giving it a sniff.

"Well, the sectional was a gift from my mother and step-father. And the rest… Esme kept sending and refusing to take back." She realized that it might seem like she and Alice hadn't contributed anything, so she added, "We got all of the kitchen stuff and the barstools and the bedroom sets, though."

"You've gotta tell me where to shop then," he said, smiling at her again.

"I can help with that," she said, nodding thoughtfully and taking the candle from his hand to set it back on the shelf. "What do you need?"

"Everything with the exception of a bedroom set."

"Jesus!" she said, shocked. She turned back to him slack-jawed. He didn't have any furniture! "You didn't have anything sent from Chicago?"

He looked embarrassed for some reason. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and wouldn't meet her eyes. "It's a… long story. For another time." His ears were pink again.

"Okay." She didn't want to pry, but she was curious. What had Alice said earlier? About a redhead? Maybe she had something to do with his furniture. "Well, I can definitely help you shop. Friends can shop together." She went to the console table beneath the TV and opened the drawer containing the spare key. She snagged it and crossed the room to Edward, holding it out to him.

He took it, looking relieved. "Thanks. I'm entirely out of socks and underwear."

Bella flushed, thinking about Edward's underwear, and blurted out, "Yeah, going commando is probably pretty uncomfortable in a suit."

She wanted to slap herself, but Edward just laughed. "It's worse in jeans," he said, looking down at his current outfit. He was in a Northwestern t-shirt and jeans. Jeans! Oh sweet Jesus, he meant right _now_. Bella was never going to recover. She would just have to start using makeup to cover up the fact that her face was cherry red from this day forward.

"Uh… You should… uhm… go do some laundry." Edward was trying and failing to hold in his laughter. "Shut up, Captain Underpants!" Edward just laughed harder. When Bella looked up at him, she had to cast her eyes back down almost immediately, because he was doubled over, laughing his perfect ass off. Good God those were good jeans. And good genes. Good all around, she supposed.

He picked himself up as he finally managed to stifle his chuckles. "Sorry," he said. "I just love it when you blush like that." He smiled his crooked grin. "It's adorable."

"Stop calling me adorable." Bella folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. "It's embarrassing. No one wants to be adorable. Beautiful, sexy, smart, witty, clever – now _those_ are good adjectives."

"I'm of the firm belief that you can be all of those as well as adorable." Edward's smile shrunk down to a smirk, and he raised his eyebrows at her. "You've proven it quite thoroughly in the last…" He looked down and checked his watch. "Fifteen or so hours."

Bella shook her head, ignoring her reaction to his compliment. "It feels much longer than fifteen hours. Are you sure we haven't slowed down to dog years?"

"I'm fairly confident that you are nothing even resembling a dog." Edward pocketed her laundry key and pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward the door. "I'm going to 'go… uh… do some laundry'," he said, imitating Bella's earlier sentiment in a mocking tone. Bella shoved him toward the door.

"Get out of here, pretty boy," she said, as she kept pushing him until he was at the threshold. He turned to look down at her.

"Good luck with the ladies," he said, smiling so wide she thought his face would crack. Bella just rolled her eyes at him. "Goodnight Miss Swan," he said, and he took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze.

Bella squeezed back, relishing in the warm fire tingling through her hand. "Goodnight Edward."

*

Jess arrived promptly at eight, with a bag of chocolate truffles and two bottles of rosé. Bella rolled her eyes. "Jess, who's going to drink all of that? There's three of us!"

Jess just shoved her goodies into Bella's hand and started taking off her ridiculously high shoes. "Bella, I passed up a hookup with Laurent just to hear about what you may or may not be doing or feeling with the man candy manager." She threw her purse onto her favorite spot on the couch and then went to the kitchen, expertly pulling out Bella and Alice's wine glasses. "We're going to drink our way through it, while forty year old women argue over a ten year old's dance routine in the background." Bella followed Jess into the kitchen and set down the wine and chocolate while Jess searched for the corkscrew. "Smell's great in here, by the way, did you order pizza from the fancy place down the street?"

Bella opened the oven door to look at her homemade pizzas and check how close to done they were. She gestured to the oven for Jess. "Nope!"

"You wouldn't be trying to bribe me out of questioning you with your famous pizza would you?" Jess asked, her eyebrows raised and the corkscrew halfway into the cork of the first rosé bottle. "Cause I'm only amenable to that on nights when I didn't have to give up sex to be here." She poured out three glasses. "How long till Alice gets here?"

Bella, a little disappointed that her pizza trick hadn't worked, and that she'd been so blatantly called out, checked the clock on the microwave. "Like five minutes tops."

"So then," said Jessica, taking a large gulp of her wine, "out of earshot of his familial connections, how is he?" She was looking at Bella expectantly, a huge smirk on her face.

"I didn't sleep with him, Jess." Bella heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes. She expected the rest of the night to go exactly like this.

"But you want to, so same diff."

Bella took a large sip of her own wine, and allowed the chilled blush to warm her throat. "That is neither here nor there, because he is my _boss_."

"Hah!" Jess said, pointing her finger and subsequently her wine glass, which was in her pointing hand, menacingly at Bella. "You _do_ want to sleep with him!"

"Wouldn't you?"

"No," she shook her head vehemently. Bella frowned. "Don't get me wrong," Jessica amended, "he's delicious and prime-cut USDA approved man meat, but you like him, so no."

Bella smiled. Jess made no secret of the fact that she liked sex, and often, and how, but she was a great person. She would never go for a guy that Bella liked, and vice versa. It was nice to be so surrounded by friends. "Thanks, Jess," Bella said, reaching over to pat the top of Jess's hand where it lay on the counter as she lounged. "But it doesn't matter, because again, he is our _boss_."

"Yeah, that _is_ a roadblock, especially after Dorkie Yorkie the Asshole." Jessica drained her glass and poured herself another cup. "So, whatcha gonna do?"

"Let's wait for Alice," Bella said, taking another small sip of her wine. "I need multiple opinions."

Alice, as though she were waiting for her cue, burst through the door in a huff, slamming her giant purse onto the bookshelf, and tossing her CFG blazer onto the dining table. "Tell me you have alcohol and food," she said, walking through the living room and into the kitchen. She spotted the glass of wine waiting for her on the counter and tossed it back like a shot.

"Christ, Alice, calm down." Bella rubbed Alice's arm in a comforting gesture. "What happened?"

"That no-good, two-bit, hillbilly, longhorn prick happened!" she said, her chest heaving with anger. She closed her eyes. "I complained about the lateness of my shipment of the Chanel, so that hick bastard sent all of my shipments… for the _week_." She poured herself another glass of wine, and took a gulp, but left the glass mostly-full. "I was up to my ears in designer for the last three hours of work. I had to infringe onto the walkway on one side, so, by the by, you have to walk through clothing to get to the office." She took another swallow. "I hate that Whitlock asshole!"

"Alice, you've never even met the man." Bella kept rubbing Alice's arm, trying to get her to calm down. Jessica had leaned over and was patting her shoulder.

"It's not my fault we were on vacation when he got hired!"

"Well," Bella said, "that's true, but I've managed to meet him at least eight times since."

"I'm in my office, sorting out things _he's_ ruined when he deigns to make an appearance out of the warehouse." Alice's cup was almost empty again, so Jess refilled it, then went to get the corkscrew for the other bottle. "I don't _want_ to meet him."

"I want you to meet him," Jess said. "But only because he is country-boy-fine and Bells here is too much of a stickler to lust after management with me… oh wait." She shot Bella a smirk, and Bella stuck her tongue out at her.

"Hey, yeah!" Alice said, significantly cheered with the subject change. "Forget that cowboy dingus, what's up with you and Edward?!" Alice leaned forward and raised her eyebrow. "How was the kiss?"

Jessica screeched like a pterodactyl. "You _kissed_?!" She slapped Bella on the arm, hard. "Bitch, you've been holding out on me!"

"Ow! Hey, drunk Mike Tyson, calm down!" Bella rubbed her arm, glaring at Jessica. "Yeah, we kissed."

"Was it on the sales floor? Did you guys sneak off? Was it hot? Tongue? How was it? Did your toes curl? Did you feel things when he pressed against you? How big was the thing you felt? Are you going to have sex with him? Do you think he'll be good at it?"

"Hey, Jess, that's my cousin and I do not want to know the answers to half of those questions." Alice looked thoroughly disgusted.

"Go in your room then," said Jess, never taking her eyes off of Bella, her face expectant.

Bella was shocked into silence. She knocked back the rest of her wine glass, and held it out for Jessica to refill. She took a deep breath, and when her glass was full, she spoke.

"No. No. Yes. Yes. Amazing. Yes. Yes. No comment. Not while he's _my boss_. If what's going on in my head is anything close, yes."

Alice made a gagging noise. Jessica clapped and started giggling. "No comment means big," she said. Bella just rolled her eyes and took another large sip of her wine.

"Shut up!" Alice squealed. "I don't want to hear it! I love you, and I'll hear kissing details and cutesy stuff, but the second we start talking about penises and my cousin in the same sentence, I'm planning on throwing myself from the balcony! Shut! Up!" She slapped her hands over her ears and shook her head. Jessica snatched Alice's hand away from her ear and handed her the wine glass. "Thank you, you pervert."

"You're welcome."

The oven timer went off then, and Bella bustled the two ladies out of the kitchen to take the pizzas out and set them on cooling racks. "Like five minutes before I can cut these, guys," she called out to the living room, where Alice and Jess were trying to decide on a season of Dance Moms to watch.

"Popcorn time?" Alice called back to her.

"Microwave or stovetop?"

"Stovetop, duh," Alice replied, as she appeared at the breakfast bar.

"Then, no," Bella said, giving Alice a look. "I'd like my safety deposit back one day, and I can't get it with scorch marks on the ceiling."

"One time! One time that happened!"

"And now we're having microwave popcorn," Bella said. She could hear Jessica laughing from the couch as she went to the pantry to grab a packet of popcorn. She reached into a cabinet and grabbed the popcorn bowl, which was really just a huge glass bowl that Alice had painted the word "popcorn" on for movie nights. She was quick and efficient, popping the packet into the microwave and taking the pizza cutter from a drawer.

Bella loved the kitchen, and had organized it herself, keeping Alice in an entirely different room the entire time she had done it. The sink and part of the counter sat beneath the breakfast bar, so Bella could keep up with conversation as she worked. The top cabinets were all glass-fronted, displaying the funky eclectic dishware, and the fridge was covered in crazy magnets. It was really a reflection of Bella, and of her hometown kitchen in Forks. There were pictures of her and Charlie, at her high school graduation, at her undergrad graduation, at the lake in waders, pictures of her and Renee and Phil, in the sun, at spring training, her with various Cullens, one on Emmett's shoulders at a street fair, her and Alice, Alice's lips practically fused to Bella's cheek, Esme and Carlisle each with an arm around her at the company Christmas party. She loved it, loved the feeling of family while she cooked, loved creating something just for the people in the pictures to enjoy. To give them a tangible piece of her love for them. Maybe one day she'd have a picture of Edward up there.

To get to that point though, she'd have to survive this night.

And so, pizza distributed, wine refilled, popcorn popped, and season two of Dance Moms screaming in the background, Bella told Jessica and Alice all about the night at the bar. They ooh-ed and ahh-ed in all the right places, and sighed when Bella told them about how she felt as if she'd known him for years instead of hours. When she told them about the kiss, Jessica fanned herself while Alice just squealed incoherently about fate and how cute their babies were going to be, which caused Bella to roll her eyes so hard she got a headache. The wine helped, though.

"How did I miss this?" Alice asked when Bella was finished, shaking her head.

"Well, Alice, you tend to miss things when you're leading a conga line around the bar." Jessica snorted out a laugh at that. "What do I do, guys?" Bella said, dejectedly. She knew objectively that the plan she had made with Edward was a good one, that it would work. But in her heart, she didn't want to leave Cullen's Fine Goods any sooner than she had to, she didn't want to sacrifice seeing so many people she loved almost every day. Her plan had always been to work through school, and she wanted to stick to it.

"We could scare him off like we did to that one incompetent idiot," Jessica suggested, shrugging. "God, she sucked. Halloween's coming up, it would probably be easy to pull off."

"Something tells me that chasing Edward around the store dressed as designer zombies wouldn't work."

"You could just go for it," Alice said, reaching out to pat Bella on the arm. "I would cover for you with Rose and Emmett, you know that."

"Thanks Ali, but I don't want this to start with a lie." Bella was adamant about one thing: they were not going to sneak around. "I can't do that with your cousin. I couldn't… I-" she broke off, unsure of how to word her response.

"Is this because of the store?" Alice asked, her brow furrowed. "Because the store is temporary, for you and Edward both, but… you could be happy. Permanently. It's more important." Jessica was nodding along, apparently in agreement with Alice's sentiment.

"That's just the thing, Alice, I _know_ what's important. _You're_ important, and Rosie and Em and your parents and my team and school and my family – they're what matters most. I can't do casual with someone so close to you all, I can't dive in without checking the depth. If we… if we broke up…" Bella took a deep breath, unafraid of heartbreak, but terrified of the possibility she was about to vocalize. "If we broke up, it would make things awkward, for _everyone_. I can't imagine slouching through your wedding, trying to remain unseen and unobtrusive through Henry's birthday parties, or God, not being invited at all. I love you guys so much," she said, letting one tear escape. Alice took her hand, and Jess wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She could hear the television as music played and tiny legs and arms glided through a synchronized pirouette. "I couldn't risk it. I have to know that this… this _passion_ I feel, this crazy attraction, this interest, is something that can last. I have to know that we wouldn't be a fizzled fling. Being friends is, I think, the best way to do that."

"We love you too," Alice said. "And we would never let that happen."

"For what it's worth, we all love you too," Jess said, smiling as her eyes twinkled with excess moisture. "The service desk wouldn't be the same without you. Who else am I going to complain to about my failed attempts to flirt with Lauren?"

Bella laughed, gurgling a little over the thickness of her throat. "Lauren and Laurent. Don't you think that maybe you _do_ have a type, Jess?"

"I accept all genders and orientations, and it is not my fault that the two people I happen to be having sex with and want to be having sex with have similar names. Although it is very cosmopolitan of me, and makes me feel worldly and beautiful." Alice and Bella burst out laughing as Abby Lee Miller screamed on the TV.

"Thanks guys," Bella said when they finally calmed down. "I feel better talking about it."

"We're here for you," Jess said, wrapping her arm back around Bella.

"Always," said Alice, clinging to Bella's other side. "Rosie is too. She can just never know about this because she's married to a Sasquatch." Bella laughed again, and two of the women she loved most laughed right along with her.

They lay like that, snuggled together, watching Dance Moms and eating gourmet pizza and microwave popcorn and chocolate, until the rosé was gone and Jessica and Alice had fallen asleep on the couch.

Bella looked at her friends, her sisters, and smiled before turning off the television and going to bed, being sure to set her alarm so she could wake the girls for work. Nothing was resolved on the Edward front, not even close, but come what may, she knew what mattered.

*

 **A/N: Tell me what you think, because I had a beast of a time writing this, and I'm feeling a little like it was worth it? I like it, and I never like my own stuff, so tell me if that means it was horrible. Ah, who even cares, I'm a grown woman with a tablet and an abiding love for Edward Anthony Masen, so I'm going to hell anyway.**


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N: Hello again! Welcome to the Edward Show, where we get a look into the brain of my good buddy Mr. Masen. I am... very tired after working Black Friday, so please let me feel the love! Love you readers! Thanks for sticking through it!**

 **Disclaimer: I own only my interpretations. Steph owns the characters and to be quite frank, could never love them like we do, right?**

*

It had officially been a week since Edward started at Cullen's Fine Goods. That meant it was officially his last day as Bella's shadow, and while he was looking forward to getting full reign of the department, he was going to miss working so closely with her. So much so, in fact, that he was now standing in front of her apartment door, trying to decide whether or not to knock. He figured he could save her the trouble of having to pick Alice up during her lunch break by leaving their car here, and carpooling together to work. It was just a coincidence that doing so would leave her lunch hour free, which made his plans for the day much easier.

He supposed he could do what he had planned next week, but he really wanted to thank Bella for all of her hard work training him. He also just wanted to be near her. This week had been everything he had hoped for and then some. He got to work with her, hear her jokes, make her laugh, learn about her life, see her with his family. He knew she hated pickles, he knew she loved terribly offensive black humor, he knew she drank at least one coffee a day and several supplemental caffeine sources like Coke or energy drinks, he knew she always wore Converse to work because she hated "professional" footwear, he knew she loved the people she worked with and for, and he knew that she would do anything for them.

The first time he saw her interact with Esme he had never wanted to hug a person so badly. Esme was so much like his own mother: the sisters looked alike, spoke alike, and had the same huge heart. To see Bella so obviously enamored of Esme made him feel like the Grinch when his heart grew three sizes. He imagined her with his mother, interacting so intimately. She had chided Esme for working too hard, had noticed her small cough and went to the break room to get a cough drop from her purse. She'd given her a hug, and postponed a dinner at Carlisle and Esme's house until Esme felt better. She had joked softly that she promised to keep Alice fed until next week. She'd praised Edward when he shrugged off Esme's questions about how he was doing.

Everything about her was warm and light and love. He didn't understand how he had even gotten so lucky as to be her friend, let alone have her be attracted to him. She radiated and glowed and illuminated the room and he was just… Edward. Bella was beautiful and smart and funny and feisty and interesting and…

Right in front of him.

In the midst of him mentally rambling and waxing poetic on Bella's attributes, she had made the choice of knocking for him by opening the door, her face illuminated by her phone and her shoulder slumped under the weight of her bag. Of course she would come out right then, thus eliminating his shy side's desire to run away. Of course she would, because she was the perfect woman. She couldn't possibly know that he was warring with himself, desperate to see her and terrified of her disinterest all at once. In his head he built up reasons and logic and he overanalyzed and dissected their conversations, her reactions, her facial expressions and he always came up with the logical explanation that she was humoring him. That she was bored and annoyed and simply too kind and lovely to tell him so. But then he saw her again, and she smiled. Bella's smile made him feel like he was worthy.

Bella looked up from her phone and saw him standing there in the hallway. And she smiled. And Edward couldn't help it, he smiled right back.

"Hi," she said, smile remaining fixed into her face.

"Hello," he replied. "I was hoping you'd ride with me to work today."

"Well, I accept," she said, waving her phone at him, "but you have to be willing to let me get your coffee."

"You drive a hard bargain, Swan," he said, gesturing for her to lead the way.

"Hang on," she rushed back into her apartment, and he heard her muffled voice from the wide-open door. "Hey, Wine Queen, I'm riding with Edward. Keys are on the peg." He heard a higher voice, sleepy-sounding, who he assumed was Alice. He couldn't make out her words, but Bella gasped, and he heard a thump. "Not _that_ kind of ride, genius." Edward felt his ears heat up. Alice was a demon, there was no other explanation. "Good God, you have to stop hanging out with Jessica." He heard more sleepy squeaking, and then Bella laughed. "Go back to bed, goofus, I'll see you later." Bella reappeared at the doorway, left the car keys on the peg, and shut and locked the door behind her.

"You really love Alice, don't you?" he asked. "I wouldn't have been nearly so gentle."

"Yes you would have," she said, smiling and shaking her head. "You're a softie." She pulled her phone back out and tapped the screen a few times. "What's your Starbucks order?"

"Flat white," he said, peeking over the top of her phone as she tapped around the screen, navigating the menu.

"Are you saying that because I called you a softie, or just because you hate flavor?"

"I am a man of simple caffeine needs, Bella. Frills are fine and dandy for dresses but I like my coffee like I like my whiskey: strong and dark." They were making their way out into the crisp morning air, approaching Edward's Volvo.

"Or, alternately, like you like your women." She didn't even look up from her phone to watch him gape at her, she just smiled knowingly at the glowing screen as she selected a flat white from the list for him.

That just wouldn't do at all. She couldn't have the upper hand like that while he was driving. It was time to take the wheel, so to speak. He opened her door for her and rounded the car, sliding into the driver's seat with ease. When she was buckled in, he turned to her. "Actually, Bella, I like my women about five foot four with brown hair and the inability to hold their tequila, and that's an overly complicated Starbucks order. I hate overly complicated Starbucks orders."

The blush he loved so much crept up her neck to her cheeks, and she kept her eyes trained on her hands as they fiddled with the phone in her lap. "Do you talk to all of your friends like that?" she asked, her voice a little bit higher pitched than normal.

"Oh, yeah," he said, smiling at her as she frowned. "Two days ago I told Seth he put the jealous moon to shame, and yesterday I told Angela she was ten pounds of cute in a three pound bag." He loved teasing Bella. She always blushed the same way, always reacted so vividly. And

she always had a witty comeback.

"I'm sure Seth loved that," she said, smiling smugly.

"Funnily enough, he did," Edward replied, starting the car and heading in the direction of the Starbucks. "But don't worry," he said, "I told him my heart belongs to Jessica."

Bella's laughter filled the car as he sped on toward their caffeine fix and their last day attached at the hip.

*

They walked into the store side by side, him with a hot cup and her with a cold cup, laughing over the disc jockey on the local radio accidentally saying "shit" on the air. Childish? Yes. Hilarious? Also yes. Bella leaned close to him right as he was taking a sip, and said, "Shit, that's a lot of money," in a perfect imitation of the DJ's ridiculous Boston accent. Edward choked on his coffee. How a Bostonian had ended up DJing in Seattle, he'd never underst- wait. Frasier. He realized that it was exactly the plot of Frasier. He turned to tell Bella about his revelation, but they were interrupted by a booming voice calling out to them from the door to the office, which was still partially obscured by racks of clothing.

"Hey, Eddie, Edelman, good morning!"

Edward and Bella looked up to find Emmett leaning against the office doorjamb, arms folded across his chest, smiling at them. Despite his grin, he eyed Edward warily, as though waiting for him to mess up or possibly trying to control Edward with his mind.

"Hey Gronk! Preseason game at your place Sunday?" Bella took another long pull of her coffee, looking excited. "I'll make those hot wings you love."

"How can I pass that up?" Emmett said, finally removing his appraising gaze from Edward to beam at Bella. "Just be sure to make some barbecue ones for the wimps."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Calling your sister and your toddler 'wimps' isn't nice, Em." She reached out and shoved his shoulder.

"Well, if they can't handle the heat… you know the rest," he retorted, rubbing his shoulder; as though Bella had done any damage. Emmett turned to allow them entrance to the office and Bella reached back to pull Edward through the door. She went to the cubbies lined against the wall of the break room and put her stuff away, and Emmett turned back to Edward, resuming his assessment. "So," he said.

"Yeah?" Edward asked, fidgeting a little under Emmett's stare. He had a pit forming in his stomach that said Emmett knew more than he should.

"Bella seems to like you," Emmett said, his face remaining stoic.

"We work well, together, yeah."

"And you drove her to work?" Emmett's eyebrow raised up to nearly hit his hairline. How did he do that? It was like something out of a cartoon.

"We live in the same complex, we have the same schedule," Edward said, softly, trying very hard to look as innocent as possible.

"You guys got coffee." Emmett's eyebrow had returned to its original spot on his face, but his lips had set into a hard line.

"We're friends," said Edward, struggling to maintain composure, and shrugging as nonchalantly as he could manage.

"Friends." Emmett was fully glaring now, and Edward could feel himself start to squirm.

"Yes. Friends."

Emmett continued to glare for a few seconds, and just when Edward was sure he was going to do something reckless, like burst into flames, or tell Emmett everything, every unfriendly thought he'd had toward Bella in the last week, Emmett smiled.

"Well good," he said. "That means you'll actually get to work then."

"Was it a possibility that I wouldn't?" Edward looked back at Bella as she struggled with her bag, shoving it recklessly into a cubby and huffing at it when she saw that it was still hanging halfway out. She went back to shoving and Edward smiled.

"With Bella involved, it's always a possibility. She's never enjoyed training a customer service manager before." Emmett leaned close to Edward's ear. "Between you and me, I can almost always tell how long someone will last by how well they get along with Bells. The less they mesh, the shorter the stay."

"How long are you betting on for me?" Edward was watching Bella as she approached them, she was in the middle of silencing her phone. She looked up and smiled wide at him.

"With that smile? Whenever you plan on leaving." Emmett clapped Edward on the shoulder, a little too hard, and Edward winced. "I'm glad you're friends. You're coming on Sunday, right?"

"I'm more of a baseball fan," Edward said, and Bella let out a gasp.

"We can convert you." She was smiling still, and she gave Emmett a conspiratorial look. "Right, Gronk?"

"Absolutely, Edelman." He put an arm around Bella's shoulders and they faced him as a united front, both wearing identical pouts. Edward laughed out loud. He was very grateful that they weren't, but sometimes it was hard to believe she wasn't related to the Cullen siblings. "Pwease, Edwaaaahd?" Emmett said, doing his best to get his voice to sound childish, though it was difficult to manage with his deep baritone.

"Yeah," Bella said, her voice high pitched and girlish, "Pweeeeeease?!"

Edward, still laughing, covered his face with his hands and nodded, agreeing to watch football on Sunday. He looked up and fixed Bella with a stare. "Count me with the wimps, though, when making chicken wings."

Emmett guffawed loudly, causing Tyler from the sales team, who had his head down at one of the tables in the break room, possibly napping, to jump up and look around before his eyes came to rest on Emmett, still roaring. "You're in good company with Henry," he said, still chuckling. Tyler rolled his eyes, shook his head, checked the time on his phone, and went back to his existential crisis or nap or rest or whatever he was doing.

"Okay, get to work, you two," Emmett said when he calmed down, making shooing motions with his hands.

Bella rolled her eyes and grabbed Edward's coffee-free hand, causing him to feel that little electric jolt he always felt when she touched him, and started dragging him out of the office and onto the sales floor. Emmett burst out laughing again. Edward was glad he thought Bella touching him was funny instead of suspicious. That meant he could touch her more often. Edward was still contemplating exactly how much touching he could get away with when Bella dragged him behind the service counter and threw him a pen.

"You're on your own register today, pal," she said, grinning widely. Her tone seemed proud. Edward smiled back at her, trying to mask the disappointment he felt at being unable to stand and watch over her shoulder, staying in close proximity. Bella and Edward set to counting out the drawers, despite the fact that almost no one used cash at Cullen's Fine Goods. They were a discount store, but for luxury goods, which meant most of the merchandise was still fairly pricey. Customers usually got billed by the company, or used credit cards, but every morning they still counted the drawers.

Bella was about to count the last drawer when Jessica arrived.

"Bells," she said, nodding to Bella, who shot Jessica a distracted smile as she continued to count out bills. "Boss man," she said to Edward, giving him a once-over and raising an eyebrow. "Nice suit." Edward felt his ears go pink. Over the past week, Jessica had proven each and every one of Bella's claims about her. She made jokes, lewd jokes, and waited to see how Edward would handle it. He usually only managed a light blush and a withering look, but a few times, he'd turned the joke right back on her. It was easier and easier to do so the more he knew about Jess. When Bella had confided in him that Jess was bisexual after he caught the last half of a very interesting conversation between Jess and Lauren, he just expanded the range of his comebacks to include women, which had seemed to impress Jessica.

He also knew that Jessica knew about him and Bella. Bella had told him all about their girls night the next day, so he wouldn't be blindsided by Jessica making allusions to bars and tequila or Alice asking him for his star chart to compare it to Bella's. Both of which had happened that first day after she'd told them. So now, when Jess complimented his suit, and her eyes flickered over to Bella, still counting change, and her eyebrow raised, Edward knew she was trying to discern if he had dressed up for Bella. Aside from his pinked up ears, he tried to maintain a bored expression. It didn't work. Jessica beamed at him.

"Bells, isn't boss man's suit nice?" she asked Bella, who promptly looked up from her counting to look at Jess, who gestured to Edward. She looked over at him, and Edward could physically feel here gaze on him, traveling down and back up, as her cheeks flushed bright pink and her lips parted ever so slightly.

"It's alright," she said, shrugging, but her face was getting redder by the second. Jessica snorted out a laugh, and Edward just smiled down at his shoes before taking the inventory binder to the service room to check on the held merchandise.

The fact that Bella was attracted to him was never going to get old. Watching her cheeks pink up when she looked at him, when he smiled at her, when he stood close to her, when he touched her… it warmed his heart in ways he couldn't quite describe. He was dreading the day that she got used to him, that the blushing and stuttering and dazed looks stopped. He knew they would, of course. He was well-prepared for Bella to come to her senses and realize that she deserved so much more than him. He didn't know how to work at a relationship, didn't know how to even try. Everything with Victoria had been so straightforward, and easy. That had been what killed them, in the end. The fact that Edward hadn't put forth an effort. He was lousy, and lazy, and less than. Victoria had made sure he knew.

But Bella thought he was beautiful. And that, in itself, was beautiful.

After he made the rounds of the service room, checking on the holds and the sold items, he put his initials in the space marked for the nine o'clock check, and turned to head back to the counter. Bella was leaning against the wall next to the doorway, watching him. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her left leg was casually crossed over her right, and she had a soft smile on her face as she watched him approach. He smiled back reflexively. Her happiness, her amusement, her humor, any reason she could have to smile was a good enough reason for him to smile too.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked, once he reached her.

She shrugged. "Technically I'm still training you today. Had to make sure you were doing the check properly." She smirked up at him and then glanced around the room. "Good job, by the way."

Edward rolled his eyes and grinned down at her. "Thanks," he said, his voice laced with sarcasm. His tone turned serious as he continued. "I learned from the best, after all."

"Jess?"

"Shut up, Miss Swan," he said, chuckling. Bella chuckled right along with him, hand over her heart.

"Why, Mr. Masen," she said, her voice high and breathy, like an old Hollywood starlet. "That is highly offensive and inappropriate! I'm going to take this up with Human Resources." She placed the back of her hand on her forehead and tilted her head back, fluttering her eyes as though him telling her to shut up had physically weakened her.

Edward just scoffed. "Emmett's just going to ask if you needed shutting up, the answer to which is yes." Bella straightened up and smacked his arm. "Ouch! Geez, woman! What?! You did!" Bella was rolling her eyes at him and shaking her head, so he continued. "I mean it, you did! To imply that you did anything less than fully equip me for this side of the job and were a key- no, _the_ key to my apparent successes is deserving of swift dismissal. Therefore, you needed to shut up."

Bella stopped shaking her head then, and was looking up at him with a mixture of pride and – dare he think – affection in her deep brown eyes. Her lips were ever so slightly curved up at the edges, the ghost of a small smile. Just as her smile started to widen, reveling her perfect white teeth (she'd had braces during middle school, he'd learned earlier this week) she glanced back down at her shoes. "It really is a nice suit," she said when she looked back up. She smoothed out his lapels, and Edward had to hold his breath to keep still.

"Have lunch with me today?" he asked, timidly when she pulled her hands back. He hoped she said yes. He wanted to treat her for all of her help this week. He also just wanted an excuse to be alone with her for an hour.

"Okay," she nodded. She took a deep breath, staring up at him with her lips parted, her eyes slightly glazed over. She shook her head once, and her eyes were bright once more. "Come on then," she said. "Or Jess is going to think we came back here to do unsavory things."

"Too late!" they heard from the direction of the counter, and Edward burst out laughing. He placed his hand gently at the small of Bella's back, and led her back out to the counter, where Jess was waiting, smirk fixed in place and eyebrows reaching for the sky. Bella and Edward both lapsed into hysterics, which Jess soon joined. "Okay," said Jess, when she caught her breath, "I'm gonna open us up."

Edward just nodded, still out of breath and laughing. He kept trying to stop, but every time he looked over and caught Bella's eye they both busted up with fresh giggles. Jessica unlocked the wide double doors at the entrance, then switched her walkie to the common channel to announce that the doors were open. In the background, in his own ear, Edward could hear his and Bella's laughter faintly over the walkie channel as Jessica made her announcement.

"It wasn't even that funny, guys," Jess said as she walked over, which just made Bella laugh harder.

"I think…" Edward said, attempting to control himself, "I think you broke her."

"I…" giggle, "I…" snort, "I am…" guffaw, "broken!" Bella said, and then she burst into fresh hysterics.

"Bella, I'm pregnant!" Jessica yelled over the sound of Bella's hysteria.

Bella stood straight, clutching her stomach, immediately silent.

"Gotcha."

"Oh, thank _God_ ," Bella said, taking a deep breath and running a hand through her hair. "Not that I don't believe in you, I'm just not ready to be an auntie again so soon," she said in response to Jess's glare.

"You're an aunt?" Edward asked. He was fairly certain that Bella had said that she was an only child.

"Wait till you see her with Henry," said Jess. "It makes me want to throw up or head to a sperm bank."

Bella blushed bright red, and peeked up at Edward from under her hair. "He calls me 'Auntie Bella'," she whispered, clearly embarrassed for some reason. Edward couldn't understand why; he thought that her claiming her found family was beautiful and more than a little endearing.

He smiled at her, and she blushed deeper. "He's probably going to call me 'that guy', considering I've met him all of twice." He let out a chuckle. "That, or Emmett has him calling me 'Eddie' or 'Ed Man' or 'Cousin E' or 'E Money' or some other ridiculous thing."

Bella let out a giggle. "Don't worry, Auntie Bella's on it." She tapped the side of her nose twice, with a conspiratorial wink. "Besides, you'll see him on Sunday!" She grinned wide and Edward's face fell. He had forgotten about his day of watching football. He wondered idly if he and Alice could do something else while the others engrossed themselves in sweaty concussion ball. Maybe he could take charge of Henry, get to know his littlest cousin a bit better. He'd honestly only agreed to go because Bella was pouting at him like a monster, manipulating his heart rate and bending him to her will like a pipe cleaner. Bella frowned at his downcast and slightly disgusted expression. "Oh come on, it's not going to be that bad!"

"If you say so," he said, his expression extremely wary. "I for one, don't want to know what Emmett's like when his team loses."

"It's a good thing we're fans of five time Superbowl champions with the best quarterback in the league and an offensive line that is unstoppable, then." Bella shot him a wry smirk, raising her eyebrow. "We don't lose that often." Edward just shrugged. Most of that sentence had meant nothing to him, because he had never once in his life been interested in football. Even when Emmett was playing, Edward brought a book to games and had his aunt tap him when Emmett was doing something particularly athletic.

"I'm just going for the food and the company." Bella blushed again, and he knew she had (correctly) guessed that he meant her. "I've hardly seen Alice since I got here, and I really do want to see Henry."

Bella rubbed her hands together like a Disney villain. "I can't wait to get my hands on that munchkin. It's been like a week since I've seen him." She was grinning.

"Five bucks says he asks for Airplane the second you walk through the door!" Jess called from her position behind her monitor.

"I'll take that!" Bella said. "He's been asking for leapfrog more often," she whispered to Edward.

"I heard that!" Jessica called loudly.

"How?!" Bella turned wide eyes on Jess, shaking her head.

"My eyes suck, so my ears are fabulous." Jessica shrugged and threw Bella a smug grin. "Anyway, my money's still on Airplane. Last week when he was here you had to do Airplane like fifteen times." Jessica rolled her eyes at the memory. "I had to take like six customers while you were occupied, and none of them cared because, and I'm quoting: 'But aren't they so darling?!'" She smiled exaggeratedly and made her voice high and squeaky when she did her impression, bouncing on the balls of her feet like a five year old who had to pee. When she stopped she levelled Bella with a hard stare. "Never mind that maybe _I_ minded having to take all of the customers because that tow-headed cherub refuses to let you out of his sight." Jessica's words seemed harsh, but her face was glowing with mirth. At the onset of the week, Edward might have found that to be offensive, but he could tell now that Jessica was just messing with Bella, which appeared to be her favorite pastime. She wasn't actually bothered by Bella's hijinks with Henry, that was for sure. Her eyes lit when she talked about them, like she was talking about people she loved, which he guessed she was.

How lovely a place this was, where the people all cared so deeply for each other. Sure, they had spats – Edward had witnessed three schedule disputes, four misunderstandings over hold slips, and six petty quibbles over tone of voice in this last week alone – but they were truly family. They looked after each other and supported one another. How Edward could have thought that working for his family's establishment made him pathetic, he could no longer comprehend. He was beginning to see, as he assumed the rest of the personnel already saw, that this place was special. It was a home, and Carlisle and Esme made sure that they took very good care of that home and everyone fortunate enough to be in it. For the first time he considered how it might be if he just… stayed. The thought made him warm. And then very, very cold. Because despite the fact that she was less than one year from taking her bar exam, Bella still worked here, and all the time he was spending so close and never close enough was torture. Better not to think of it at all, and take each day as it came.

Today came playfully.

Bella stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry in Jess's direction. "You're just mad because you can't do the Airplane right." She made a shaking motion with her hands. "Too much turbulence," Bella said, winking at Edward.

"It isn't fair!" Jessica was whining. "That kid is so huge and my noodle arms shake under his mass!" She crossed her arms and glared at Bella. "He's lucky he's so cute, cause he's also real fat."

"Don't call him fat!" Bella yelled, as Edward tried and failed to suppress a snort. Bella glared at him. "He's in the ninety-ninth percentile for height and weight! He's going to be the next Gronkowski!"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Neither of us knows who that is, or cares, for that matter." She reached over to Bella and gave her a pat on the arm. "Look, just take the compliment. Obviously you don't get any 'turbulence' on the Airplane because you're fuckin ripped, right Edward?" She kept her hand on Bella's arm, giving it a squeeze for good measure as she stared down Edward, daring him to deny her.

"Bella is strong enough to hold a two year old, yes," he said, actively trying to keep his lips from turning up. Bella just laughed and Jess rolled her eyes yet again. She was going to have a hemorrhage at some point with all this ocular motion. Plus, she was wearing contacts, that could not possibly be good for them.

"Whatever," Jess huffed. "Wait till you have to pick him up, boss man. He's hefty."

"He's a baby!" Bella said, still laughing.

"I'm sure I'll manage." To prove his point, he grabbed a large box full of books from beneath the counter and carried it over to Jess. "Can you sort these, please? Alphabetical."

Bella was laughing even harder now, and Jessica was fuming, shaking her head and glaring at him. "Oh sure, _very_ impressive, big strongman over here wants me to sort the books, oh hardee har har, no one else can lift that frickin thing ha ha ha," she mumbled angrily.

"Actually," Bella said, cutting off Jessica's rant, "Lauren put that down there last night." She waggled her brows at Jess, who was staring openmouthed between Bella and then the box.

"Good God, that's so _fucking_ hot." Jessica fanned herself and started rearranging books.

"Language, Jess," Edward scolded, but the words had no real bite. Jessica swore like a sailor on leave at a brothel and his prodding wasn't going to stop her. Plus he'd only ever heard her curse in front of one customer: Dottie. Since it wasn't an issue for the business, he didn't see that it was any of his business.

"I'm sure my language will improve as soon as Lauren agrees to go out with me. The anticipation's making me punchy." She didn't look up as she spoke, just kept right on sorting.

"Yeah," Bella said, letting out a chuckle. "Two years of anticipation will do that to a person." Jessica flipped Bella the bird from her post, and Bella just let out another giggle.

"In the words of the incomparable Ms. Sally Bowles: 'It's gotta happen sometime.'" Jessica shrugged, evidently feeling that the union was inevitable.

"That would make a pretty good montage," Edward interjected. "You asking her out and her rejecting you as 'Maybe This Time' plays in the background. On the last swell of music she'll say yes and you'll hug or kiss or something." He rubbed his chin. "Maybe at Christmas. That'd be a great commercial, movie montage, TV episode…"

"You're so right," Jess said, nodding. "I'd watch the hell outta that. Granted, mostly with voyeuristic intentions, but still."

"You're pretty good at that," Bella said, from where she was wiping down the countertop. She was assessing him with curious eyes, seemingly impressed.

"That's what my degree is supposed to be helping me do: P.R. or advertising or marketing. I just wanted something different, so I moved here." Edward didn't want to get too into the specifics. He was embarrassed that his only job opportunity was with the family of the woman who cheated on him and who proved to him that he was undeserving of romantic love. He hadn't even put any effort into searching, because Victoria had provided him with an easy solution. That was his big flaw, he guessed. Edward always took the easy option. After high school, he'd had acceptance letters from Columbia, USC, Dartmouth, Stanford, University of Alaska, and several others along with Northwestern. He'd chosen Northwestern because it was home. Easy moving, easy travel time, easy to tour the campus. He told himself that they had good programs as well, and it was true, he was proud of his alma mater, but he knew deep down he just liked the convenience. He'd dated the only woman to actively pursue him, because it was easy to do so. In their relationship he let her take the lead. He took a job with his family because he knew he could, knew that the Cullens would help him.

Edward hadn't truly _tried_ at something yet. Hadn't really _fought_ for anything he wanted. He was starting to wonder if he ever would, if he could make the change, if he could make an effort. Because he was realizing that he had things he wanted to fight for now. He had people to make an effort for, he had a place to take pride in his work. Maybe, he wondered, you just had to want something badly enough. And over the last week, he'd learned that he did want things. He wanted to make his aunt and uncle proud of him, he wanted to do good work for them so that there was a foundation for whoever came after him. He wanted to prove to Victoria that he could work hard at the things he wanted, needed to prove to himself that he could.

He wanted Bella. More than anything, he wanted her. He wanted her to be happy, and he wanted to be part of what made her happy. He wanted to wake up next to her and to see her smile. He wanted to bear her burdens and to carry her through her struggles. He wanted to be good enough for her. He didn't know how. He didn't know where to start. But he was going to start trying.

He was going to fight until he won.

"You okay?" Bella asked him, her face full of concern. "You looked a little lost, there."

"I was," he replied, smiling at her, his heart swelling with something he hadn't felt in a while: hope. "I'm good now, though. I know exactly where I'm going."

Bella still looked confused, but she smiled back. "Good," she said, and turned back to her tasks. Edward took a moment to watch her, basking in her quiet assuredness, her confident motion through her work, then stepped forward to join her.

 **A/N: Good? Bad? Uhm? Let me know! Love you guys!**


	7. Chapter Seven

**A/N: Guess who's back, back, back... Back again! Me. The answer is me. Anyway, that's a terrible joke. Do yourselves a favor and check out the Patriots instagram account. A few posts in there's a picture of Brady and Edelman and then one of Edelman and Gronk and now one of Gronk and Brady and... this is Emmett/Rosie/Bella solidarity, tbqh.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not a blessed thing. I am naked and alone in a street, someone save me.**

*

Bella was a mixed bag today. On the one hand, she was having a pretty bangin' day. Edward had shown up at her apartment and they'd driven to work together. They'd traded the aux cord back and forth, swapped war stories about the arguments they'd resolved over the week while Bella was still training him, and debated the merits of their personal coffee choices. Bella was gob smacked when she learned that Edward hadn't heard her favorite drive time DJ yet, and turned on the show for him. She'd convinced him to come to Emmett's for football Sunday. They'd had a moment in the service room, and he'd invited her to lunch. She was having a good day; the kind of day spent with a crush that gives a person that warm, fuzzy feeling in their stomach.

On the other hand, she wasn't supposed to have a crush on Edward. The fact of the matter was that she did, but she felt bad about it. Every time she looked at him or thought about him or had a heart-stopping moment when he touched her or looked in her eyes, she was immediately hit with a pang of guilt. There wasn't any real solution to this, aside from quitting her job, which she didn't want to do. So, she knew that she'd have to just live with it, and try not to think about Esme being incredibly disappointed in her for lying by omission. To not think about her perfect maternal face, squished up in anger or sadness, or asking Carlisle why she'd ever think that she had to lie to th- _stop_!

On her fictional third hand, today was her last day training Edward, and she already missed being on the same schedule. She was already hovering by his register, using his training as an excuse to stay close, only straying to her own monitor when they had excess customers. The next few weeks, he'd be with Rosie, learning about managerial duties and how to create the schedule. Then Bella started school, and she'd be scheduled around her classes and put into the lineup whenever convenient, so who knew when she'd have the opportunity to work so closely with him again? She was trying to make the most of it, while ignoring her crushing guilt. Edward was making that incredibly easy on her, by being adorable and sweet all morning. He would tell her jokes, ask her questions about living with Alice, or about her school, or about Jessica. The last one he did loudly, for Jess to hear, because he knew it was amusing for Bella when Jessica huffed and puffed and screamed "I'm right here! I can hear you!" as if she was unaware that Edward was in fact attempting to rile her up. Jess fell for it every time, and it never failed to make Bella laugh.

Bella was having a hard time reconciling her emotions. She was elated that she was spending time with him, guilty about the same thing, and anxious for their lunch. She was missing him while he stood right there and at the same time she was trying to get more of him, more conversation, more moments, more contact. She was being tugged every which way, up and down and over and back and she wanted off the ride, but at the same time never wanted it to end. It was incredibly frustrating. She'd never wanted to be unconscious more than she did in that moment. At the very least, oblivion would end the nauseating twists and turns. She needed a change of scenery.

At eleven, when the next shift came in, Bella was excited to see Angela and Jake. Jake had been gone for the last two weeks on a vacation with his father and two sisters, and she'd missed him, when she'd had the opportunity to. Mostly her mind was focused on the roller coaster of her non-existent love life, but in the few spare moments she had, Bella wished she could talk to Jake about it. Or not talk about it. That was Jake's thing: he always knew just what they could do to blank Bella's mind. Whether they went for a ride on the antique motorcycles Jake had fixed up in his free time, went to midnight movies, took a road trip across the sound to go hiking, or just grabbed a couple people and a lot of food and drove around blasting music, Bella never really thought about deadlines or scheduling or her team or school or dying alone with seventeen cats when she was with Jake. It had always been that way, even when they were children playing at the reservation under the watchful eyes of Charlie and Billy – Jake's dad. She could really use a bit of that right now.

And Angie was her calm in the storm, always solid and sweet, listening, caring, and dispensing humble advice. She'd been in twice this week, and Bella had been thrilled that Angie had gotten along so well with Edward. She'd worried for a bit, concerned that soft-spoken Angela might just be too kind to voice an opinion, but she'd told Bella that she truly felt comfortable with him there. Angela had also made several comments about the fact that Bella couldn't go five minutes without staring at Edward for an inappropriate amount of time. Angela was understandably cautious and a little disapproving, but after Bella had assured her that she and Edward were just friends, Angela found Bella's fixation to be amusing, considering it was such an anomaly for Bella to be fixated on anyone. Bella knew she should probably tell Angela the truth, soon, but she always worried about Angie, and she wanted to make sure nothing was going to make her uncomfortable or cause her to backslide. She cared too much about Angela to take away her feeling of security her at CFG.

"Hells Bells!" Jake yelled when he came into view of the service counter. He was smiling his perfect white grin, contrasting his deep skin tone, and he clapped his hands together before dashing around the counter. He lifted Bella up from her waist, spinning her once before setting her lightly back on her feet. "What's the adventure tonight? Seth and Leah are dying to get out with us." He was still grinning, and he waggled his brows once in a suggestive manner. "Well, with me, mostly. You know I'm irresistible."

Bella just laughed and slapped at his arm once she was safely on the ground. "And yet, Seth, Leah, Lauren, Jess, Angie, myself, and the entire clothing department has managed to resist you just fine."

"Keep telling yourself that," he said, reaching out to pinch her side. Bella squeaked and dashed away from him, running smack into Edward.

She immediately placed Edward between herself and Jake's probing fingers, cowering behind his tall frame and peeking out from his side to stick her tongue out at Jake. Edward lifted his arm and ducked his head down to get a better look at her, and she looked back up at him. His eyes were full of barely concealed mirth, and his lips were twisted together to hold in his laughter. "You good?" he asked, his voice trembling with the effort of containing his giggles.

"I'm fine," she huffed. "Aren't you supposed to protect the team?" She gestured between herself and Jake, scowling. "Go on, protect!"

"Isn't he _also_ part of the team?" Edward asked, raising an eyebrow, his voice still shaking. "I think there's a protocol conflict here." And then he broke, and started laughing before putting his arm down behind Bella and pushing her forward to stand beside him.

"Jacob," said Angie as she rounded the counter to stand beside Jake, using her best Mom Voice. "Maybe you should stop attacking Bella and introduce yourself." Then she pulled out the big guns, using Mom Face to go with Mom Voice. It was exactly the correct combination of disappointed and scolding that put every kid's tail between his legs, and Jake was no exception. Bella didn't understand how she did it. Maggie was four months old and behaved like an angel; Angie shouldn't be that good at the angry parent stuff yet.

But she was. Jake, looking contrite, stretched his hand out toward Edward. "Hey, man, I'm Jacob Black. Jake's good though," he said as Edward took his hand to shake. They both assessed each other, eyes guarded and hands tensing, and Bella started to panic a little. Dear God she needed them to like each other.

If Bella was family to the Cullens, then Jake was family to her. He'd been the sunshine in the clouds for her so many times she was losing count. When she started to stress out over finals, Jake brought nachos ("Brain food," he'd said) and beer and forced her to watch a stupid action flick. When she was missing Charlie, he'd taken her on a road trip down to First Beach on the La Push reservation where he was from, and Charlie was there waiting. He'd even gotten her an Alexa for Christmas last year so she could video call Renee. And Bella always returned the favor, bringing him lunches at work, tutoring him in his community college Algebra class, and even getting him the job at Cullen's Fine Goods when he first moved up to Seattle.

They'd known each other since they were just kids, and Jake was important. He was her little brother, and she wanted him to like Edward. If Edward was going to be important, she needed him to like Jake. And she really wanted Edward to be important.

They continued to assess each other for a moment more, and just when Bella was sure her heart was going to give out, they both smiled. Apparently they had agreed that the assessment was positive.

"Edward Masen," he said, matching Jake's grin with his perfectly crooked one. "I'm the new customer service manager."

"Sweet!" Jake said. "Can we be zombies again for Halloween?" he asked Bella, who just rolled her eyes.

"Not that it would work the way it did last time, but still no," she said. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave Jake a withering look. "Edward is Mrs. Cullen's nephew."

"Ahw man," Jake said, sounding disappointed. Jake had arrived just in time to help the girls with their diabolical plot to oust the incompetent manager before Dorkie Yorkie. They'd run around the store in costumes that Alice had made, patched together designer outfits made out of damaged merchandise. Bella and Jessica had watched about a thousand YouTube videos on special effects makeup and went all out making all of the service reps into hideous zombies. They'd chased the manager all over the store, screaming about wanting brains. They took turns manning the desk and hunting their manager, so there was always a newer, scarier face coming after them. It was hilarious. They quit the next week, and the girls rejoiced even when Emmett was forced to write up all of the reps for their behavior. A small price to pay, they'd reasoned. Of course, then Eric showed up, and while he worked fine, after he was fired they all wished they'd just dealt with the other manager's idiocy.

It didn't matter now though. Edward was here.

"Sorry to disappoint," Edward said, letting out a chuckle. "I'm sure you'll come up with something great for Halloween, though." He still had his arm behind Bella, not quite touching, but she could feel his warmth. It was a little distracting.

Jake looked from Edward, to Bella, to Edward, to Bella, and his grin widened. _Shit_. "I'm sure we'll find something _interesting_ ," he said, directing his curious gaze at Bella, who flushed.

Jessica, who had remained silent up to this point, decided to interject. "What am I, chopped liver?!" she yelled at Jake. "Where the fuck is my spinny hug? Where's my tickle fight?!" She was poking Jake in the chest, moving his attention away from Bella. Bella was eternally grateful; she could have kissed Jess. Jake was going to make her tell him everything, but at least for now he was distracted by spinning Jess in fast circles, over and over until Jess shouted, "Put me down! I'm gonna hurl, you monster!" Jake slowed down, but kept spinning, laughing loudly.

Bella took this opportunity to focus on Angela. "Hi momma!" she said brightly, reaching out to give her friend a hug. "How's my precious girl? Also how's the baby?"

Angela laughed, shaking her head. "Maggie and I are both fine. She's with Ben today; he had the day off." She pulled out of Bella's embrace and headed off to get a pen from the cup by the phone. Bella followed her over to her screen, leaning on the counter next to it as Edward returned to his own monitor to assist a customer.

"Tell Benji to bring her by, I miss her." Bella pouted at Angie, giving her the puppy dog eyes to coerce her into getting her baby to the store. Bella loved babies. She didn't want one herself, not until she was done with law school and had a steady job at a firm, but she would play with other people's kids all day.

"I'll see what I can do." Angie was smiling at Bella, but Bella knew she was thinking of Maggie. She could tell by the look in her eyes. Angie always said that despite what she had to go through to get her, that she would do it all again a million times without hesitation to have Maggie with her. The intense love you could see that she had for her daughter was inspiring. It almost made Bella want to cry. Angie so very much deserved to have that love in her life, and to see someone get exactly what they deserved was so satisfying and heartwarming. Bella cherished that look in Angela's eyes.

"Good. I need more Magpie in my life." Angela smiled and Bella started to brief her on what needed to be done while she was gone. "Okay, so we could use a restock on bags and remember to call Jasper just to make him sweat. I've got my cell if you need me." Bella smiled and gave Angela another hug.

"I don't need to be briefed!" Jake called from his monitor, and Jess snickered. "I already know _everything_." He and Jess shared a significant look, and Bella's blood ran cold. _Dammit_!

"You don't know anything. I should know, I've seen your SAT scores." Bella glared at him, giving him a clear warning to drop it.

"You've got the book smarts, but my size and knowledge base actually made my score higher than yours." He grinned smugly. Bella rolled her eyes.

"Okay, goodbye. I need food." Bella turned, snagged Edward by the arm, and dragged him out to the sales floor, leaving the giggle twins' boisterous laughter in their wake.

*

Edward, it turned out, was incredibly sneaky. He had already known they were going to lunch together, and had actually ventured to a grocery store to get supplies for his plan: a picnic. Bella was shocked when they got back to the Volvo and he opened the trunk and pulled out a fancy wicker basket. He very simply said, "Hold this," and then left her reeling as he opened the passenger door for her. She was just stock still at the rear of the car, mouth wide open. "You gonna get in the car, Bella?" he asked. Bella had turned to him, and he was leaning against the passenger door, smiling his crooked smile, and Bella thought her heart was going to drop out of her chest at the sight of him, suit coat discarded in the backseat, sleeves pushed up to his elbows, tie loosened considerably. He looked like sex on legs. And then he'd put on his sunglasses. _Jesus, Mary, and Joseph I need a cold shower._

She'd stumbled dumbly to the car, managing to close her mouth along the way. Edward chuckled and crossed to the driver's side, sliding in smoothly. Dear Lord, he needed to stop moving so fluidly and looking like that and speaking with that voice of his and… okay maybe she just needed him to stop existing. His entire being was a distraction.

He asked her to direct him to the best park in the area, which in the Olympic Peninsula is like asking for the best beer at Oktoberfest. There are just so many. Being as she was going on a picnic with Edward, she immediately thought of Myrtle Edwards Park, a pretty place with picnic tables and Elliot Bay stretching out in front of them. When they arrived the pair walked to a grassy expanse off the path and spread a plaid blanket ("The only blanket that I own that isn't on my bed," Edward had told her) on the ground.

"Well," Bella said, as Edward started pulling sandwiches out of the basket, "if you'd shared your plans I could have brought one of the three thousand throw blankets that Alice and I own." She raised an eyebrow at him, accepting her sandwich and a glass bottle of root beer. _Fancy_.

"Bella, if I told you we were going for a picnic lunch you would have laughed and asked me if I was insane." He leaned back on the blanket, hands behind his head and one leg bent. "'Edward, this is Seattle'," he said, pitching his voice higher to imitate Bella, "'The weather isn't exactly picnic-appropriate!'" He laughed and tilted his head toward her. "But I did my research, Bella," he said, matter-of-factly. "There's a record low chance of rain for the year, and it is 68 degrees and sunny. Just like the weatherman said."

Bella took a sip of her root beer and rolled her eyes. "Yes, that's true," she said, "but you still would have had another blanket." Edward chuckled again and tilted his face back toward the sun, closing his eyes. Bella used the opportunity to ogle unabashedly. He truly was beautiful. How was someone so beautiful really here, having a picnic, with her? To Bella it just didn't make any sort of logical sense.

"I'll take the laundry duty over the criticism any day," he said. "That's something you should know about me." Bella laughed and rolled her eyes, though she knew he couldn't see her. It was habit. "If I can avoid being mocked I will go to great lengths, even stooping to actual cleaning, to do so."

"Most people will avoid being mocked if they can, Edward."

"Most people won't try to convince someone _not_ to go on a picnic." His eyebrows raised, but his lids remained shut, and he was smiling softly. How did he do that? How did he make it look so effortless? He was laying there, bantering lightly with her, and she'd never wanted to jump a person so badly in her life. She'd also never felt so guilty for wanting to jump a person so badly in her life. It was maddening, her emotions running away with her, her subconscious imaging their future, wanting things that she shouldn't, seeing him being gentle and kind and caring and funny and sweet and applying them to intimacy, and child-rearing, and Sunday mornings, and late nights, and… love.

She was trying to stay objective, but Bella knew that if she didn't fight it, hard, she could fall in love with Edward. It would be easy, like falling, while staying clear-headed was like climbing freehand up a cliff. She'd done that before, with Alice in Yosemite on one of their adventures, and it was the hardest thing she'd ever done. The forest below the rock face was beautiful and mysterious and appealing in an ancient, primal way, but the falling part hurt. And the peak was beautiful too: goals reached, a stunning vista, and a sense of accomplishment. But she didn't stay on the peak. She returned to the forest. That was Bella's conundrum now: she needed to reach the summit. She needed to finish school and do good work for the Cullens, and she needed to let her father watch her walk into her future, the future they'd planned, late nights at their tiny kitchen table, poring over college applications and drinking more coffee than they should've. She owed it to Charlie, she owed it to herself, to Renee and to Phil and to Esme and Carlisle, to Emmett and Rosie and Ali and Jake and Jess and Angie. People who had supported her and cared for her and lifted her and made her feel like she was capable and strong. She couldn't get distracted from that, not when she was so close.

And the forest would always be there. She could fall another time, parachute down into the trees. But what if someone else fell first? What if the forest burned down or got snapped up by some lumber yard? Shouldn't she experience all that the trees could give to her, and give them back what she could of herself? Nurture the forest, and let it feed her in return? Maybe she'd be distracted, but at least she'd _know_. She wouldn't need to wonder, wouldn't have these questions.

She kept right on looking at Edward, laying there in all his glory, and thought to herself that there had never been such an effective distraction throughout history. Misdirection and illusion could not compare to the way that this man consumed her. She wondered about him, and fantasized, and worried, and lusted, and cared. She cared so much about what he was thinking, how he was feeling, what he'd do next, what he thought of her. Since that night at the bar, she had been entirely unable to force him out of her mind. He was trapped in there for good, stuck with cement to her subconscious. Maybe if she knew more and wondered less, she'd find him less distracting.

With that in mind, Bella took a handful of chips from the bag Edward had brought and popped one in her mouth, then threw one at his face. It hit him directly on his nose, and his eyes popped open, a little startled. "Let's play twenty questions," she said. He took the chip off of his cheek where it had fallen down the slope of his nose and ate it. Bella giggled.

"Okay," he said, "Animal, vegetable, or mineral?" He raised an eyebrow at her and grinned.

"Not that kind of twenty questions." Bella threw another chip and to both of their surprise, he caught it in his mouth.

"What kind then?" he asked after swallowing.

"Personal questions." She grinned widely at his look of panic. "Get-to-know-you type stuff."

"Sounds dangerously close to dating territory." He stole the ship bag from her hand and ate another before tossing one to Bella, who caught it in her hands before popping it in her mouth.

"You gotta know your friends, too," Bella argued. "If you asked me any of these questions about Alice or Jess or Angie or Jake, I'd know the answers."

"What are the rules?"

Bella thought for a moment, before she had an idea. She opened her mouth to speak and Edward threw a chip directly into it, causing Bella to sputter a bit before chewing and swallowing, Edward laughing loudly the entire time. "Okay, wise guy. You have to answer any question truthfully, and you can only avoid answering if you can catch a chip in your mouth thrown by your opponent."

Edward kept laughing right on through her rules, and burst out with renewed giggles when she finished. "I'm sorry, what? This isn't very well thought out."

"It's your own fault those are the rules, Mr. Fastball. Stop throwing chips and the entire game could have been different."

" _You_ started the throwing, Miss Swan!" He pointed at her childishly, and his voice went up in righteous indignation.

"Whatever, Edward. You gonna play, or what?" Bella folded her arms across her chest and waited, brows raised, for his response.

"Fine, but I get first question."

"Ask away." Bella gestured grandly with her hand, indicating she was ready.

"Why did you move in with your dad?" Edward's eyes were filled with genuine curiosity.

"Officially or unofficially?"

"That's not part of the game." He raised one brow and held a chip threateningly, ready to strike.

"Officially I moved so that my mom could travel with her new husband." Bella smiled slightly at the memory. Renee had been resistant, she told Bella over and over that she didn't need to go with Phil, that staying with Bella was her number one priority, but Bella had insisted that she wanted to go to Forks. And she had, for the second reason. "Unofficially… I knew my dad was lonely. He had his friend Billy, and Harry, and his deputies, but he missed me. I knew he did from our time together in the summers. I didn't really used to like Forks, or Washington in general – too wet and cold – but I grew to love it, seeing it through his eyes." She remembered all the time spent at the lakes and rivers with Billy and Jake, all the hikes and nature walks, learning about the trees and flowers, just spending time with her dad. They weren't exactly wordy with one another, and Charlie didn't hover, but they'd grown close over her time spent with him. Close enough that she stayed in the area for college and law school. He was her introduction to football and baseball, he was her moral guidepost, he was a man secure in his life, and Bella depended on him.

Charlie had loved her mother, very much, but he loved the force and he loved the town and the people and the community of Forks. He loved the local diner, the local fishing, the local market, and he loved to have a personal connection with those he served and protected. It hadn't been enough for Renee, but after some time, it was enough for Bella. She missed the sun, sure, but there were always visits to Florida to see her mom and stepdad, and adventures with Alice or Jake to sunny locales. She didn't need the sun as much as she needed to take care of her dad. She'd cooked for him, because he was terrible at it. He'd learned from her for a while. On her seventeenth birthday, he'd made the entire meal from scratch himself, with only minimal mistakes. She'd been so proud, and then he'd brought out a perfect chocolate cake, and she'd actually shed a tear. Bella loved him so much, and so she had never told him the real reason why she moved out to Forks. She really needed to head home sometime soon.

"That's incredibly selfless of you." Edward was staring at her, assessing.

Bella flushed under his scrutiny, and shrugged. "I love my parents. Why wouldn't I do what makes them happy?"

"Because it made you unhappy."

"Only for a while. I love it here, now. I love that my dad's so close, and I love my school and my job. My family's here, my friends. I couldn't image living anywhere else." And she couldn't. Despite her love of heat, Seattle was home. There was no abandoning home. She'd just wear sweaters.

"Still," he said, a smile breaking through his serious expression, "that's an amazing thing you did. You're extraordinary."

Bella flushed even deeper red. "No I'm not. I'm just ordinary."

"No, you're purposefully obtuse is what you are." Edward chuckled and lay back on the blanket once more. "You refuse to see how delightful you are."

"Whatever," Bella said, throwing a chip at his head. "My turn. What are your parents like?"

Edward took a deep breath. "They're… interesting. My mother is a lot like Esme. They look alike and act the same, their voices are even similar. She's very sweet, and she loves us very much." He was smiling as he described her, but suddenly his face fell. "Sometimes she doesn't exactly show it in the way you'd expect, though. My father is kind. He has high expectations of me, but he's always supportive. He and Carlisle get along quite well, despite being no relation. I love them, but I'm glad to be here with Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle. They have very different philosophies on success than my parents do."

"What does _that_ mean?" Bella asked.

"Ah ah, Miss Swan, that's another question. Wait your turn." He wagged a finger reprovingly. "Favorite color?"

Bella had whiplash from the abrupt subject change, and blurted out the first thing that came into her head. "Green," she said.

"Green?"

Bella flushed yet again, as she quickly tried to cover her gaffe. "Yeah, but it changes. When I first moved here it was brown."

"Brown," he asked, and she could hear the chuckle on its way. He didn't disappoint; his musical laughter filled the space around her. "Why?"

"I missed it. Nothing here is brown, and everything that is supposed to be is covered in moss. So, for a while, I loved anything that was brown."

"And now you love the color of the stuff deterring your view of brown." Edward's voice was thick with sarcasm, clearly amused by her complicated answer to a simple question.

Bella decided to roll with it. "Well, yes. But before that it was blue. The first sunny day in Forks, I fell in love with the sky after the rainclouds cleared. I was obsessed for years. Then green won me over."

"Pray tell, how did it do that?" He was smiling freely now, seeming to forget whatever was bothering him when he spoke of his parents. Bella was glad. She loved that she'd been able to make him happy again.

So she carried on, lying. "The consistency. It's everywhere, it's vibrant. There's like a million variations. Invader Zim is green. Beast Boy is green." Edward was laughing, but Bella didn't stop. "Mike Wazowski. Yoda! The Hulk, the Grinch, Kermit the Frog!" Edward was barely making any noise he was laughing so hard. "Oh my _God_!" Bella said, making the ultimate realization. " _Shrek is green!_ "

Edward's hand was pounding the ground where it lay next to his leg. He was still laughing at her, and Bella was glad that she'd managed to deflect. She giggled a little herself, laying back on the blanket with her head next to his. There was no reason to tell him that the real reason she liked green best now was that she'd spent an inordinate amount of time staring at and thinking about his eyes. It was just too pathetic to do so after a week. It was true all the same, though. The trees and moss and underbrush: it all reminded her of him now. It was yet another item on her never-ending list of Edward related distractions.

Edward, who was laughing himself silly on the blanket next to her, managed to choke out, "You... You like green... for Shrek?!"

"Who doesn't love Shrek?" Bella turned her face toward Edward's and smiled when she saw his gleeful expression. He let out another chuckle and turned his face to hers.

"Well, certainly not me." He was grinning as wide as he could, and Bella had never seen anything so radiant. She wondered again how he could be real. "Shrek-lovers only at this picnic." He placed a hand over his heart in faux-sincerity. "I wouldn't dream of disrespecting Donkey's best friend."

Bella smacked Edward's chest with the back of her hand, as hard as she could, which was admittedly sort of weak due to their positions. He just laughed and turned his face toward the sky. "My turn," she said, mirroring Edward's position. "What was your favorite cartoon as a child?"

Edward scoffed once. "You're not going to ask my favorite color?"

"Maybe later." Bella shrugged as best she could while laying down.

They both turned their faces toward each other once again, smiling. Bella was very much enjoying the view: the way his eyes practically glowed when he smiled, the exact angle of his crooked grin, the slope of his nose, when suddenly he wasn't grinning anymore. His eyes were boring into hers, and his face was utterly stoic. Bella's smile slipped from her face, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Was she holding her breath? She wasn't sure. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, and he was getting closer, millimeter by aching millimeter. She was panicking. They couldn't! They weren't supposed to! They were literally on a lunch break from work! She wanted to. She wanted to so badly that it was taking every ounce of her self-control to stay still. He was close, so close, all she had to do was move her head an inch, two inches and she'd be there, she'd be kissing him, like she'd dreamed about every night for a week. Without alcohol, fully aware, in the daylight, in bright screaming technicolor. She couldn't, she wouldn't, she wanted…

She needn't have worried. Edward stopped when he grabbed the bag of chips behind her, and unceremoniously dumped them onto her head. Bella shrieked and Edward laughed, before lightly picking a chip out of her hair and popping it into his mouth. "Mmmm. These are good chips." Bella rolled over onto her side and let her fists fly, making contact with any part of Edward she could reach. "Ow, woman!" He was blocking about half of her shots, laughing and complaining in intervals. Bella finally sat up and shook her hair free of salty occupants, giving Edward a reprieve from her attack. He propped himself up on his elbows, grinning. "To answer your question, my favorite cartoon was Dragon Ball Z."

"What?!" Bella said, turning to him with a shocked expression, hands still combing her hair for stray chips.

"Are you… _judging_ my cartoon choices?" Edward quirked one brow at her.

Bella giggled. "No, of course not," she said, her face a perfect mask of innocence. "It's just…"

"Just?"

"Well," she said, barely able to contain her grin, "it's just that Piccolo… is _green_." Then she burst into full-out belly laughter.

Edward scoffed, seeming a little indignant. After watching Bella guffaw loudly for a bit, though, he also collapsed into laughter.

They fell back onto the blanket, both consumed with their giggles, before resuming the game when their laughter was spent.

There in the rare sunlight, the two friends laughed and learned and ate and played, until the ticking of the clock popped them out of their bubble.

*

 **A/N: And that's that on that. Who's ready for some football! And some Henry! Hit me with your thoughts!**


	8. Chapter Eight

**A/N: Well! Hello! Long time, no see, huh? Sorry about that. Finals. Anyway, I'm back and ready for action! Unfortunately there isn't very much of it this chapter. Next chapter is the entire Cullen ensemble watching football so, get ready for that. If anyone remembers the preseason game between the Pats and the Panthers you can guess how that's gonna go.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to sarae32, who faithfully reviews each chapter despite being an incredibly busy neonatal nurse (that's right, if you review I read your profile, don't you judge me.) and who is always so kind and sweet in those reviews. There's a special moment in here just for you, can you spot it? Thank you for saying CFG is your favorite story, I may have cried.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but a few work uniforms and a can-do attitude in the face of retail at Christmas. (Pray for me).**

*

There was no way around it: Edward missed Bella. Of course, it had only been a day, and Rosalie was incredibly helpful and good company all day on Saturday, but it wasn't the same. There were no stolen glances, no inside jokes, no blushing beautiful girl making him laugh and feel light. The picnic they'd had was one of the best days Edward could remember having. They'd been settled close on his postage stamp of a blanket, talking and laughing and asking questions. When he'd asked her what the most embarrassing memory she had was, she'd flushed prettily and silently opened her mouth to catch a chip. He'd tried to make her miss, but she'd caught it. No matter. He'd get that story out of her one day. He'd learned all about her relationships – with her father, her mother, with Jacob, with Alice, Angela, Jess, and so on. It would be easy for him to be jealous of Jacob, a man who was so very close to Bella's heart, but he suspected it would be similar to being jealous of her own father for the same reason. She talked about him the way she talked about Emmett, or even that Whitlock fellow in the warehouse: annoyed and agitatedly, but with an undercurrent of affection. Like you talk about siblings or cousins or friends that you cherish for the pains in the ass that they are.

He'd almost kissed her. She was so close, and her eyes were drooping and her lips parted and he had almost lost every ounce of self-control he had, but he stopped himself and managed to complete the task he originally set out to, which was dumping a bag of chips on her head. That had been a good time, because it gave him an excuse to reach out and run his fingers through her hair to dislodge chip remnants for the rest of the day. He'd enjoyed the privilege several times as he queried about her favorite food ("Italian, Eastern, French, breakfast, or pastry? You can't limit me, sir!"), about her hidden talents ("Well, Alice will say it's karaoke but I always say it's that my hips are double jointed!" She'd then proceeded to place the bottoms of her feet together and said, "See! My knees touch the ground! When you do this they'll be six to eight inches off the floor!" She smiled wide and Edward tried desperately to focus on her smile and not on all the wonderfully delicious things they could probably do to take advantage of her double-joints. It was in incredibly erotic fact about her and she seemed to be oblivious to it.), and on whether or not she believed in aliens ("Listen, you cannot tell me that in an infinite expanding universe there is zero other life. That's just willfully obtuse.").

When Ben brought Maggie to the store to visit Angela, Maggie had reached out for Bella and immediately took another hidden fragment from the depths of her thick locks. They'd had a pretty good laugh at that, and then Bella took Maggie from Ben's arms, cooing at her and bouncing her around. His heart swelled when she put her face into Maggie's tiny neck and blew a raspberry, causing the baby to giggle. It was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen in his life.

The strange thing was, the baby looked almost exactly like Angela. Maggie's dark hair, and dark eyes, and golden bronze tint to her skin, her features matched Angela's facial structure, but she looked nothing like Ben. Ben was Chinese-American, but Maggie shared none of the same traits. How strange that such dominant genes didn't make it to representation on the little girl. Still, she was delightfully cute. She was just a smiling, happy, slightly drooly little cherub. Bella fawned over her the entire visit, and even Jess got in on the action, leaving Jake and Edward to chat.

"Listen," Jake had said, seeming serious for the first time since they'd met, "Bella is important." He'd been watching Bella play with Maggie, both he and Edward fixated on the girls in front of them, while Ben stood nearby, smiling amusedly.

"I know." And he did know. Bella was incredibly important, but not just that, she was special, a singular, beautiful entity unlike anyone else.

"Good. If you can't handle her successes – of which there will be many – or make the same level of sacrifice that she would make for any of us, then you need to let her know right now, before she's too attached." Jake's tone implied that Edward had better listen and obey, or else.

"I know I've only known her a week," Edward said, "so you may not believe me, but I would walk across broken glass and lemon juice toward an army of serial killers for her."

Jake turned to look at Edward, who was still staring at Bella, a soft smile on his face as he described himself in mortal peril. Jake smiled. "Funny enough, I do believe you. She's worth it."

"I know."

They all worked seamlessly until Bella, Edward, and Jessica left for the night, when Jake called after their retreating forms, "Goodnight losers! Hey Ed, don't forget to grab some lemons on the way home! Gotta have plenty of lemon juice just in case!" He'd laughed and Edward joined him when he saw the confused looks on Jessica and Bella's faces. They'd asked him what that was all about, but he kept his and Jake's conversation a secret. He'd told them it was Guy Stuff.

And Saturday had come and gone in a blur of scheduling programs, company policy, store rounds, and reminiscing about the warm sun and a pretty girl telling him about the time she stuck a fishhook directly through her best friend's earlobe because he had insisted that he wanted an earring. She'd made Jake show him the scar when they got back. He hoped that he would spend most of his days at the service counter, assisting the customers and spending time with his team. Well, with Bella, but the team was also very nice. Except Jane. Jane was crazy. He had nothing against office work, but he felt that his time and energies were better suited at CFG if he was helping customers and supporting his team. He could achieve more at the service desk. Maybe if he made the entire month of schedules in advance, he could spend a day in the office and the rest of his time putting the service in "customer service."

He'd spotted Bella once from the balcony on the second story during one of his floor rounds with Rosalie, who was chattering beside him about this policy or that, pointing out racks and items that were misplaced and making notes of the jobs that needed doing to hand out to the department managers to disseminate to the employees. She'd been laughing with abandon at something her customer, a man in his early-ish sixties with salt and pepper hair and a moustache, had said. She had one hand on the counter, doing a classic Bella lean, and her head tipped back in joyous fits of giggling. He could just make out the logos on her high-tops, see the flush of her cheeks filtered through the sparkling golden light of the chandelier. She was wearing tights and a skirt – or was it a dress? He couldn't quite tell – under her Cullen's Fine Goods blazer, and Edward ached with a deep need to head down to the desk and check on his "team". Mostly, he was focused on the team captain, though. After their picnic (where he'd learned that she preferred dogs to cats, night to day, and musicals to plays) he was feeling exponentially more needy to be near her, so of course he started working in the office the next day. Because that was how the universe worked for him. He stared for another moment, long enough to determine that she was in a dress and that the glow from the chandelier brought out the red in her hair, before turning to hurry after Rose, who hadn't even noticed that he'd stopped.

Edward had spent most of the rest of the day trying to figure out the scheduling program that dictated how often and when each girl was scheduled to work. Rose and Emmett were still splitting their scheduling until next week when he took over, which was probably for the best, because he could not for the life of him get the hang of it. Every time he tried to add a shift, another one deleted or altered, and if he altered a shift the entire schedule altered. It was maddening and he just desperately wished he was out at the service desk, joking and laughing with Bella, assisting customers, waiting to see what Jess would say next, avoiding Jane, and putting out fires. It would sure beat banging his head repeatedly on his desk while Rosalie laughed.

Bella wouldn't have laughed. She may have made a joke about him being too old to understand computers (which she consistently did to Charlie, her father, he now knew), but she wouldn't have laughed. God, he missed Bella.

But today was Sunday. Today he'd get to see her, talk to her, maybe even stay close to her. He'd been told to show up at Emmett and Rose's place at one, and to bring beer. It was currently 11:30, and Edward was pacing his (still empty) apartment and checking his watch in equal measure. There was no denying it: he was bored and he wanted to see Bella, because he missed her laughter and her playfulness and the way she almost wretched after telling him about her mom's lasagna attempt and how her stepfather had eaten the entire thing to spare Renee's feelings.

After pacing through his living room one final time, he followed the motion right through to his kitchen, took the two packs of Rainier out of his fridge, strode over to his front door and snagged the keys off of the hook, exited his apartment and locked up behind him. He took the stairwell down to the second floor, taking two steps at a time while maintaining a firm grip on the beer, and burst out of the door and down the hall. When he reached Bella and Alice's door, he turned right back around and started heading back to the stairwell. He couldn't just show up unannounced! But then again, he just wanted to see if they needed anything, he could ask that, right? He turned back around and walked up to the door. As soon as he saw the small gold 213 below the peephole, he turned back around and strode toward the stairwell. He should definitely not try to intrude on Alice and Bella's time together. Although, he did miss Alice himself, surely it was alright to go see her? He turned back once more and made his way to the door.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he knocked once. He could hear music playing from inside, something with a bouncy bass line, though he couldn't hear the lyrics. He heard a high-pitched "Coming!" before the door flung open wide and he looked down into the delicate features of his cousin, Alice. She beamed up at him, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the apartment. "Hey cous," she said, "Come on in!" Edward recognized the music now; it was ABBA, and he could barely hear Alice's voice as she invited him in; the volume was set to deafening. He didn't understand how anyone could function through this noise, but Alice just seemed to be rolling with it, so Edward decided if she could tune it out, he could too.

"Hey, Ali," he said, reaching over with his free hand to ruffle Alice's short hair. She slapped his hand away before smoothing down the mess he'd made. "I came by to see if you needed help?"

"If Bella will let you, by all means, go ahead," she said, gesturing toward the kitchen. He smiled when he realized that ABBA wasn't the only thing he could hear. Bella was singing along to the lyrics, and her voice drifted out to him along with the spicy smell of buffalo sauce.

" _Gimme, gimme, gimme, a man after midnight! Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away!_ " Edward chuckled to himself as he approached the kitchen, turning his back on Alice as she shook her head. When Edward approached, Bella danced into view of the breakfast bar, one hand holding a large glass bowl full of neon orange chicken pieces and the other hand covered in buffalo sauce as she stirred the bowl contents with it. She was spinning and kicking and shaking her hips, singing loudly and seemingly oblivious to his arrival. " _Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight! Take me through the darkness to the brink of the day!_ " She proceeded to make the flute noises with her mouth, still dancing across the kitchen.

Edward leaned on the entryway to the kitchen, arms and legs crossed, watching her. She was so… goofy. Sure, she was still the sexy girl who approached him at the bar, and she was the smart girl who knew everything about his family's business and still had enough room in her brain for law school, and she was the caring girl who loved her friends fiercely and would defend them with her own life, but this? This was just pure absurd joy. Her hair flew around her and she was wearing leggings and a Patriots jersey, and she was dancing and singing and making hot wings all at the same time. God, he had missed her yesterday. This level of sweet, smart, beautiful, doofus was hard to match, and Edward found himself craving it more and more.

" _Is there a man out there? Someone to hear my praaaaaaaayer?!_ "

"I mean," he said, holding in a chuckle when she shrieked and spun around to face him, "there's a man in your kitchen. Does that count?" Edward forced himself to stay silent, not allowing a single giggle to escape as he waited for Bella's response.

" _Jesus, Mary, and Joseph_ , Edward!" Bella said, setting the chicken on the counter and using her clean hand to clutch at her heaving chest. She was still breathing hard after he'd frightened her, and her cheeks flushed pink. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"I'm sorry," he replied, his voice shaking with the effort of holding in his laughter. "That sounds very messy and traumatizing."

"Bella, by the way, I let Edward in!" Alice called from the living room. "Hope that's cool!"

Edward lost it. He barked out a loud laugh, unable to hold it in anymore. "I'm gonna kill that stupid pixie," Bella muttered as Edward continued to guffaw with abandon. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe. "Yeah, yuk it up, pretty boy, I'll get you back someday."

"Do you… Do you dance like that when you 'mosh' to Queen with your vacuum?" he managed to get out in between giggles. Bella just sighed and rolled her eyes before returning to her chicken. Edward composed himself and set the beer on the counter. "Can I help?"

Bella's eyes darted around the kitchen, clearly eyeing up the mess she had made while cooking, then sighed and bit down on her lower lip. That move had thoroughly distracted Edward from his amusement, and he had to carefully control his breathing to maintain a steady rhythm instead of embarrassingly erratic panting. She gazed up at him with her wide, warm brown eyes and pointed with her buffalo-free hand to the fridge. "Can you get the bowl of barbecue sauce for me? Gotta feed the 'wimps' too." She turned back to her chicken, ABBA still booming out from the stereo in the living room, although Bella had stopped singing. He missed the sound.

"You can keep singing, you know," he said, opening the fridge door and pulling out another large glass bowl filled with dark brown sauce. "You really do sound lovely." He placed the bowl next to her on the counter and leaned with his back against it, elbows resting on the marbled surface. He cocked his head toward hers, waiting for her response.

She was blushing again, and he could see it clearly because for once her hair was shoved behind her ears to keep it out of the chicken. He remembered when he'd done that for her at the beginning of the week, when he'd been unable to stop himself and had gently brushed her hair away from her face, to better see her blush. His fingers had grazed her cheek then, and it had been so warm from her flush. Warm and soft and so smooth. He was trying to compare it to something in his head but coming up short. It was simply Bella, and her blush, and her soft skin, and he ached like nothing he'd ever felt before to touch her again. "Thank you," she said softly, transferring chicken wings from the bowl to a baking sheet to cook. She turned and opened the oven door in one fluid motion, more gracefully than he'd ever seen her move. "Dance parties are kinda just for me, though… Karaoke, on the other hand, involves myself and a lot of vodka tonics. That's when I really perform."

"Alice could see and hear you the entire time," he argued. He really just wanted her to keep singing. The goofy dancing he could take or leave, but he wanted that voice back.

"Yeah, well, Alice has also seen me naked," she said, shrugging as she finished another tray of hot wings before placing it in the oven. Edward thought about Bella naked and almost toppled over because his knees gave out. It was a good thing he was leaning on the counter.

"A lot!" Alice called from the living room, causing Bella to laugh. "Dressing rooms, shower, her room, my room, one time in the living room, one time while she was getting ready to go swimming at Mom and Dad's…" Bella snorted before shaking her head at his cousin's antics. Edward was suddenly very grateful that he had strong arms because they were the only support keeping him upright as images, fantasies, and daydreams assaulted his brain. Image after image of Bella in dressing rooms, in bedrooms… okay he needed to knock it off if he was going to be a functioning human instead of a walking erection today.

"I think she and I are past embarrassments." Bella shrugged again and dumped the bowl that used to contain hot wings into the sink. After rinsing her buffalo-tinged hand, she grabbed the bowl with the barbecue sauce and more wings from a bag in the sink and began mixing.

"Uh… yeah," Edward choked out, still working to get himself under control. "I guess so."

Edward opened one of the packs of Rainier he'd brought to distract himself from the never ending parade of naked Bellas prancing through his brain and took one to Alice in the living room, where she was working on some sort of design on her laptop, a dress. It was really remarkable, he thought, in his amateur estimation. It looked pretty to him at least. "Ali, that's really good," he said, handing her the beer.

She cracked the lid and took a long pull, before smiling up at him. "Thanks, cous. Just something to kill the time." She shrugged and turned back to the dress, brow furrowed and her tongue peeking out from the corner of her mouth. She altered a few lines as Edward watched. As he watched, he realized that Alice was more focused on this than on anything else he'd ever seen. Maybe she was in the wrong line of work.

"Alice, did you ever consider making these? Like in reality?"

"Every single day," Alice replied, eyes still fixed on her screen. "Someday, Edward, I'm going to have my own boutique and line, but for now, I'm learning business and customer relations from the best." She smiled softly.

"Carlisle and Esme?" he asked.

"I said the best, didn't I?" Alice let out a small giggle, although considering they were having this conversation underneath the pulsing beat of disco music, a small giggle was really just a full laugh that he could only half hear.

"Your degree isn't in business?" Edward hadn't gone to Alice's graduation, because Victoria had forced him to be her date to a wedding. It was the closest to a fight they'd ever come. But then, like always, Victoria told him what to do, and he did it. God, he was such a putz. He should have realized what a terrible relationship it was so much sooner. He probably would have met Bella at that graduation. He couldn't imagine that she wouldn't have captivated him as thoroughly as she did now. Maybe he could have avoided the entire thing. Best not to dwell on it, though. What was done was done, and he and Victoria were _done_. Thank every power that be.

"Fashion merchandising," she said, finally turning to look him in the eye. She posed with one arm behind her head and made the Blue Steel face from _Zoolander_. "Just like Elle Woods," she said, letting out a laugh.

"Ali…" he said morosely, looking down at his hands, feeling terrible.

"Don't." He looked up and Alice was staring at him, her mouth set into a line. "She's gone, right?" Alice shrugged, and let out a dainty cough, as though she were trying to cover any roughness to her voice. "It doesn't matter. You're here now. It's better now." She reached out and took one of his hands, smiling.

"All the same, Ali, I'm so sorry." He squeezed her hand. How could he have been so blind? How could he not realize that anyone who kept him from her, from any of his family, wasn't someone he wanted around? He loved them, so much, and he hadn't even realized he missed them so fiercely until he was in their presence once more. It was like a dull ache that had suddenly ceased. He hadn't noticed it while he was still aching, but its absence was freeing. How had he let himself stay away for so long. He wondered for a moment if his mother felt the same way, if maybe it wouldn't be better for her and father to be here too. He'd have to think on it some more, maybe ask his mother.

"It's alright, Edward. But you better not miss anything else." She glanced toward the kitchen. "I expect you'd be missed." Edward felt the tips of his ears go red, and Alice beamed at him.

Bella shouted, "Alexa!" The music ceased, and a little screen on the entertainment center flashed blue. "Play 'Pray for the Wicked'!" Brendan Urie's voice blasted out of the speakers then, singing something about being a moonwalker. Edward hadn't listened to this album yet, he was still wary of Panic! at the Disco after the whole "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" debacle. He hadn't been able to get that song out of his head for more than a few months since 2005. This was actually quite catchy though, he thought as he made his way back to the kitchen, after stooping down to plant a kiss to Alice's cheek. She squealed and let out a high-pitched giggle before pushing him. He stumbled a bit, then righted himself and paused once more at the entry to the kitchen, this time taking stock of the kitchen itself and not just the woman working in it.

The walls were a pale blue, with dark brown wooden cabinets, glass-fronted to display an impressive array of kitschy dinnerware, including a set of Disney Hercules plates, cups with each of the Friends on them, and mugs covered in logos for fictional businesses. There was a Central Perk mug, a Luke's Diner mug, Sunnydale High, the Eolian (which Edward had learned during 21 Questions was from Bella's favorite fantasy novel series, and had showed him a pin attached to her purse shaped like a pan flute, which he recognized on the mug), and a Hogwarts mug. Edward doubted highly that any of them belonged to Alice. On the fridge was a hodge-podge of pictures and magnets. Magnets shaped like fruit, magnets from gift shops at tourist destinations, magnets from fictional tourist destinations ("Visit Mereen! Home of the Dragon Queen!"), several shaped like fish and trees. And the pictures… he took a step toward the fridge to examine them, interest piqued. Bella was in all of them, smiling and happy, radiant. Her in a cap and gown, arm around a tall man with a moustache and Bella's brown eyes: Charlie, he realized. It had to be. Her and Charlie in a fishing boat, her and Jake making mud pies as children, her and Alice in a tight embrace, her and the entire customer service team dressed as zombies, on Emmett's shoulders at some sort of carnival, Rosalie holding her hand from Emmett's side and laughing at Bella's apparent shock at being picked up. Her face was everywhere on the fridge. He wondered if she would object terribly to him switching their fridges in the dead of night. If he was very quiet, he could probably get away with it.

"Hey Edward," he heard from behind him as he examined the photos. "Can you help me real quick?" Edward spun around to face the voice, and found an incredibly pleasant view. Bella, hands coated in barbecue sauce, stood before him with her hair coming untucked from her ears, and she was pointing with her elbows to the sink. "Can you turn on the faucet?"

Edward smiled and nodded, heading toward the sink. When he was directly in front of Bella he paused, just long enough to tuck her hair back behind her ears. She flushed at his touch, and, since he was already there, he ran his thumbs across her flushed cheeks. His memory hadn't done it justice. The warmth was brighter, sharper than he remembered, and he'd never be able to commit exactly how soft she was to memory. He managed to stop at just one sweep, when he caught some stray sauce from her cheek on his thumb. He smiled again as he brought his thumb up to his mouth, before quickly poking out his tongue to taste the sauce. Bella's eyes went wide and her cheeks deepened their color. Her lips parted and she exhaled a little too audibly, her eyes locked onto his thumb and his lips. He smiled as he removed his thumb from his mouth. "That's pretty good sauce," he said, keeping his tone casually conversational. He was more than a little amused – and amazed – at her reaction. Would it ever cease to amaze him that he caused her to feel like that? Probably not. Bella was very carefully looking at the floor, taking deep breaths. "Where'd you get it?" he asked, using his knuckles to tip her chin back up. Over the speakers, he could hear the beat pulsing, lyrics worming their way into his head: _I'm still uninvited, I'm still gonna light it, I'm going insane and I don't care._

"Uhm…" she said, still flushed, "I made it."

"So you _are_ the perfect woman, then."

Finally, she smiled. She even chuckled. "I guess so. Isn't it devastating how wonderful I am?" She batted her lashes exaggeratedly and gestured to herself with her sauce-stained hands.

"I'll never recover." He said it in jest, but he meant it with his whole heart. He couldn't even remember Victoria most of the time, he was so consumed by Bella. God damn that employee contract keeping him from her, he really was going insane. After only a week, he felt as though if she weren't in his life in some capacity, he'd be missing something vital, like a limb.

Edward finally turned on the faucet and Bella rinsed her hands clean. There were two more trays of barbecue wings waiting to go into the oven. Bella laughed at the look on Edward's face as he surveyed the damage she'd done to the kitchen. "Don't worry, as the perfect woman, I can also get this cleared up in ten minutes flat… while I polish off one of these." And she snatched a beer from the pack Edward had brought, popped the top and downed what had to be half the bottle. "Ahhh," she said, "Good ole Vitamin R."

Edward was starting to believe that she would always find some way to surprise him.

It was a good feeling.

*

They arrived at Emmett and Rose's suburban home at five to one, arms loaded down with to-go trays of chicken and an entire bottle of ranch dressing, which Bella said was necessary for the hot wings and that Emmett always forgot to purchase. Alice was grumbling about Edward's driving and Bella's aversion to tardiness. "Stupid, deceptively fast Volvo going fifteen over the speed limit, trying to kill us in the name of 'being prompt' good God this woman's never heard of being fashionably late I'm always fashionably late it's so damn _fashionable_!" She just kept right on going all the way to the door, a steady stream of consciousness on her undying hatred for Edward and Bella, which made Edward snicker loudly until she whirled around and glared at him. She gave him the stink eye, snatched a beer out of his arms, and then continued her marching tirade to Emmett and Rose's front door, banging on it loudly with her fist and jabbing the doorbell more roughly than was really necessary. Edward would have to remember to take the scenic route home. The one with almost no other cars, no speed traps that he'd seen, and a few wild curves. He planned to go ninety in a sixty.

Rose threw the door open, wearing a jersey similar to Bella's, only hers had a number twelve instead of eleven. She was barefoot and beaming, her hair swept up and Henry gurgling on her hip. How she managed to keep hold of him was a mystery to Edward, because not only was he squirming around, but the two and a half year old had to be the size of the average five year old, and Edward was suddenly very aware that Rosalie could probably bench more than he could.

"Bewwa, Bewwa! Auntie Bewwa!" the toddler shrieked, struggling to release himself from Rosalie's iron grip.

"Hey buddy!" Bella said, her voice bright.

Alice shoved her way past Rose into the house, saying, "Oh fine, I almost die and 'Bewwa' gets all the love!" She pooped the top on the beer and started chugging as she made her way down the hall. "I'm getting drunk since Evil Knievel's driving! I plan to be blacked out for it!" Drat. There went Edward's plan. Although, a car ride down the scenic route with Bella, Alice unconscious in the backseat? Seemed alright to him.

"You almost died?" Rose asked, as she led them into the kitchen to put down the food, Henry still squirming and whining and trying to reach Bella.

"Nah, Ali's just not a fan of my driving," Edward said grinning as they passed the living room, where Emmett was seated on the couch watching the pregame show, engrossed in the commentary, while Alice huffed beside him.

"Which is insane," Bella said. "But she's a total hypocrite because she has _three speeding tickets_!" She called the last part out to the living room.

"Hey," Alice yelled as they finally put all the food in its proper place among the snacks, pizza, nachos, and drinks that Emmett and Rosalie had provided. "Those cops had broken speedometers!"

"Cops can't have broken speedometers," Bella said, rolling her eyes. "I know that one for a fact. They have to test them before they head out."

"Auuuuunnntiiiiiiieeee Beeeeeeewwaaaaaaa!"

"Okay buddy, okay!" Bella reached over toward Rose with her now free hands, and Rosie handed over her son.

"Aiwpwane!" Henry said, clapping his hands after planting a huge, sloppy kiss to Bella's cheek.

"You sure you don't want leapfrog?"

"No! Aiwpwane!"

"Hah!" Edward said, pointing at the pair. "You owe Jessica five bucks!" He grinned at her grimace as she started to lift Henry above her head.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, holding the toddler in a Superman pose. "Don't rub it in." And then she proceeded to run through the kitchen, swaying Henry this way and that, making engine noises and spinning around and around. Henry's laughter pealed out through the kitchen, bouncing off the walls. Edward had thought the cutest thing he'd ever seen was Bella playing with little Maggie, but he had been dead wrong. Apparently the cutest thing he'd ever seen was Bella with kids, period. She was beautiful: her eyes bright with joy, her cheeks flushed, her hair wild, her glowing smile radiating light onto the chubby little adorable bundle she was carrying. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her, trailing her as she wound around and about the kitchen, before heading out to the living room.

"Adorable, isn't it?" Rosalie said from where she leaned on the counter, her eyes on the place Bella and Henry had just left, a small smile on her face.

"Very. He's beautiful, Rosie."

Rosalie's eyes cut back to Edward, and her smile disappeared. "I don't think there's anything I wouldn't do to protect those two. Henry, he's my child, my everything, I made him. But Bells? Bells is just too good. Too good to really understand the world, too good for the work she's training for, to good for the constant heartbreak of the families she'll be helping when she's a lawyer. There isn't anything – _anything_ – I wouldn't do to spare her some of that heartbreak." Her deep blue eyes bore into Edward's, and he could feel the threat that lay within them.

"You're right," he said, careful to control his face, not to give away exactly how much he agreed with her. "She is too good."

"You know," Rose said, turning back to where Bella had left, and starting to follow, "I do believe you're the first person - beside us - that actually gets that." She turned back to smile at him, and then left Edward alone in the kitchen to wonder what she meant.

*

 **A/N: See you soon, lovelies! Winter break means MOAR WRITING TIME.**


	9. Chapter Nine

**A/N: Wow I am... sucking at regular updates, aren't I? Oh well, I'm here now and here it is! Enjoy lovelies! Also this story is one away from a hundred follows and might I just say 1. WOW and 2. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!**

 **Disclaimer: I am now the proud owner of an Edelman jersey but I still do not own the Twilight characters.**

*

Things were devolving quickly in the Cullen-Hale household. Alice was plastered and being far too chatty for Bella's liking, considering that the entire Cullen family (sans Carlisle, who was at the store) was in attendance, and Alice knew everything. Everything. Henry was demanding Bella's full attention, despite Edward's best efforts to bond with him. He tried toys, he tried feats of physical prowess (which, yes. Just, yes, thank you Lord for Edward's tight t-shirt and flexing arm muscles as he lifted a child. Bella was fairly confident that her ovaries must have combusted), and he tried singing silly songs or reading him stories. Even after all of this, Henry just wanted Bella. Which meant she was having a pretty tough time keeping Alice quiet and spinning a child through the air at the same time.

In the midst of all this, Emmett was somehow managing to be both a sulking child and a screaming vulgar old man, because the Patriots were losing. "How?!" he shouted. "How the fuck are we losing to Cam 'There's three of me in a yogurt commercial' Newton?! Come! Fucking! On!"

"Emmett!" Rosalie shouted. "Language! I don't need Henry teaching the kids at Sue's to say 'Fuck'!"

"Fuck!" said Henry.

"Well, Emmett, dear," Esme called from her barstool, "might I say you are doing a bang-up job at this parenting gig!" She tipped her beer bottle in a salute toward Emmett, who turned to face his mother with a contrite smile.

"What can I say? I learned from the fuckin' best."

"Auntie Bewwa, what fuck?"

"Something your Auntie Bella hasn't done in, like, three years!" Alice yelled from where she was slumped on the couch, causing Emmett to laugh and Esme to gasp. Alice dissolved into a giggle fit while Bella reached behind her to punch Alice's leg where it dangled from the couch. "Owwww! Why are you hitting me?! I'm right!" She kicked out with her leg in the general direction of Bella, but missed, because by Bella's approximation, she was drunk enough to have lost the ability to perceive depth. Bella was flushed bright red and snuck a peek at Edward, who appeared to be downing the entirety of his very full beer bottle. She could swear she heard him mutter: "Three years?!".

"Shut it, Hannibal Buress." Bella turned her attention back to Henry. "It's a grown-up word," she said to him, careful to keep her tone soothing. "When you're a grown-up, Auntie Alice will tell you what it is." Alice snorted from the couch, where she was leaning heavily on Emmett, her beer clutched tightly in her hand and her eyes drooping.

"But, but, but, but, I'm the baaaby, Auntie Bewwa! I not gonna _be_ a growed-up!" Henry said from his position on the floor. He and Bella had been playing on the area rug in front of the couch, trying to find pictures in the popcorn ceiling. He was staring up at Bella, sprawled out like a starfish, his blonde hair sticking up in tufts. He was upside down from Bella's point of view on her stomach. She was propped up with her chin on her elbow, staring down into his face as her leg drifted back and forth through the air. Her hair fell forward to create a curtain surrounding them both.

"Good," she said, as Henry giggled and started batting her hair away from his face. "If you become a grown up, I won't be able to do _this_!" Bella started tickling the toddler's sides without mercy, his pealing laughter ringing out around the room. It was only cut by the sudden sound of buzz-saw-like snoring. Bella stopped tickling, and the entire room turned toward the sound, which turned out to be Alice. Her face was smushed up quite unattractively against Emmett's arm, and he was looking down at her with a mixture of amusement and disappointment.

"What a lightweight! You sure we're related?" he asked Esme, who snorted.

"Pretty sure. I remember when you both came out of me, so."

"Ew! Mom!"

"Well, you asked." Esme took another sip of her beer, shrugging.

Bella took stock of the room while Henry was distracted by Alice's grizzly noises. Emmett was smack in the center of the couch behind her, the low coffee table separating them covered in plates and bottles and bags of chips. Alice was snoring into his right side, and Rose was to his left, her legs draped over his. Esme and Edward were in plush barstools at the kitchen counter to her right, facing the room with bottles in their hands and plates behind them. Everyone was staring at Alice, faces ranging from amusement to shock.

"How is she so _loud_?!" Rosalie said, shaking her head. "I've heard it a million times and it never ceases to amaze me that something so small can emit that ungodly noise."

"Her lung capacity must be impressive," Edward said, with his brows raised.

"You haven't heard her screech at Jasper on the phone yet," Bella added. "I swear she never takes a breath." Edward smiled at her before turning his attention back to Alice the Roaring Dragon.

"Wow, she is _wasted_ ," Emmett said. "Hey mom, might I also say that you are doing a bang-up job at this parenting gig?"

"Shut up, dear." Esme took another sip of her beer while Emmett and Edward laughed. "I did my part. She graduated college with honors, and then I released her to the wild." She shrugged, and Bella noticed that Edward looked suddenly sad. His mouth moved, like he was mumbling something, but she couldn't quite make it out. It looked like "honors". He started picking at the label on his bottle, and the corners of his mouth turned down. "Don't think that means I won't kick either of your butts, though. I'm still your mom."

Emmett raised his hands in a surrender before returning them to Rosie's legs. "Threat received." Rosalie laughed and Henry tried to climb up to his mother's lap. She picked him up and settled him into the small nook created by the junction of hers and Emmett's bodies, and he immediately leaned over his father to get closer to the snoring beast.

"Why she's making that sound?" he asked, before attempting to place his tiny hand over Alice's mouth. Emmett pulled his hand back.

"Because she has no self-control," Bella said with a smirk, before turning her attention back to the screen. "Oh my God, RUN, Gillislee!" On the screen a player was rushing toward the end zone, after three entire quarters of nothing and one field goal.

"Go! Go go go!" Emmett shouted.

"GO!" Henry screamed, not wanting to be left out.

Alice awoke at the toddler's scream with a grunt, looking around confusedly. "What the fu-"

"TOUCHDOWN!" Emmett boomed out, standing and pumping his fist in the air, sending Rosalie's legs flying off of him at an awkward angle and Henry and Alice slumping into the crater left by his body. Bella stood and jumped up and down before turning to Emmett to do their post-touchdown dance, which involved a lot of crazy hand motions and hip bumps. (To be completely accurate, it was the handshake that Annie and Martin do in _The Parent Trap_ , but Bella knew that she could never tell Emmett that was where she'd gotten it or he'd never do it again.)

"Not a shut-out! Not a shut-out! Thank God!" she said as they slapped hands and jumped around, before ending with a traditional handshake. After their little routine, Bella could hear the distinct sound of someone trying and failing to keep in their laughter. "And just what is so funny?!" she said, whirling to face the source of the sound.

"Nothing," said Edward, still chuckling. "It's just, does he know that he's playing Lindsay Lohan in that bit?" Bella's eyes widened and she made a slashing motion across her throat to get him to shut up.

"What?" Emmett said.

"Nothing! Watch Gostowski!"

"Who?" Edward said.

"The kicker." Bella was glaring at him, daring him to keep speaking about Lindsay Lohan or green screens or being separated at birth. Edward just shrugged and raised his hands in surrender. Bella, satisfied that he wasn't going to ruin their touchdown tradition, turned to watch the field goal.

"Boom, baby!" Emmett yelled as the ball sailed through the goalposts. "Maybe Brady can pick it up in the fourth." He turned to Bella, slapping her hand in a high five.

"Oh, sure," Edward said, "he's seen _Emperor's New Groove_ , but _The Parent Trap_ is-" He was abruptly cut off by Bella's hand slamming down over his mouth. She didn't account for the fact that he was a good five feet away, and she'd had to leap to get to him. For Bella, leaping was never a good idea. She let out a small squeak as she started to fall, her hand still covering the bottom half of Edward's face. She could feel him starting to smile as he deftly slid off the barstool and held her waist to steady her. She heard his muffled chuckles through her hand as he held her upright while she planted her feet.

Never removing her hand from his mouth, she stared up into his eyes, her favorite color filled with laughter and something else… affection? Maybe. "Thank you," she said, "And shut up." She gave him a significant look, a look that said, "Mention a Lohan one more time. I dare you. You can even mention Dina. Make my day."

Edward rolled those beautiful green eyes of his and nodded. Bella removed her hand. "You're a lot of work," he said, squeezing her waist once for emphasis. "You know that, right?" Bella reached up and clasped her hands behind his neck, nodding. "You need a full-time bodyguard just to stay alive."

"I've done fine for nearly twenty four years at this point." Bella raised an eyebrow, her fingers absently twirling through the hair at the nape of his neck. Was this friend-appropriate? Probably not. Did she particularly care? Definitely not. His fingers flexed once on her waist and Bella suppressed the urge to lean even farther into his embrace.

"Untrue," he said. "Prior to this moment you've had seven broken bones, a miraculous fourteen sprains and innumerable cuts and bruises. And that's with full-time bodyguards."

"I don't have bodyguards!"

"Your father, Jake, Emmett, and one time Jasper."

"Okay, you've got me there."

"Wow," Esme said, from her position on her barstool, causing both Edward and Bella to jump. They sprang apart, both sets of arms dropping, and Bella flushed scarlet. "You two got very close _very_ quickly."

"Peas in a friggin pod," Rosie said from the couch, eyeing Edward warily. Rosalie knew Bella found Edward attractive, but she didn't need to make it quite so obvious to the rest of the class.

"Sometimes you just click," Edward said, returning Rosie's stare. He looked anything but contrite. He reached out and pulled gently on a lock of Bella's hair. "Click."

"Well, I'm glad," Esme said, beaming. "Alice always told me you two would get along swimmingly, but it's nice to see her proven right… again."

"Toldja!" Alice shouted, too loud, from the couch. Henry giggled at Alice's outburst, sitting on Rosie's lap and playing with Alice's short hair. It felt good to know that Alice was going to wake up from her stupor with barbecue sauce from a toddler's fingers in her hair and a hangover. It felt like justice, considering she was running her big mouth all over the place. "Course," she continued, "I told you they'd be great _toge_ -"

And, saved by the bell, Carlisle opened the front door, shouting, "Knock, knock!"

Bella let out a huge sigh of relief as she turned to face the door.

"Daddy!" Alice yelled from the couch, Henry's giggling backing her up.

"Okay," said Carlisle, "she wants something or she's snockered."

"Both!" she screamed. "I'm drunk and I want you to bring me another, since you're already up!"

"Alice, darling, quiet down," he said, as he passed her yet another bottle of beer.

"Is that really wise, dear?" Esme asked him as he made his way toward her.

Carlisle kissed her cheek sweetly, and brushed her hair back with his fingertips, causing Bella to let out a sigh. Good lord, they were so adorable. Come to think of it, Edward had done basically the same thing earlier that day in her kitchen, just minus one cheek kiss.

Hmm. Here she was, idolizing her surrogate parents and Edward didn't even realize he was fulfilling her romantic fantasies by acting just like them. Hadn't she and Alice always said that they needed men who looked at them the way Carlisle looked at Esme? Hadn't they always dreamed of finding someone who could treat them so wonderfully? And standing right beside her was someone who had shown her that same affection, that same care, time and time again the past week.

The real question, she supposed, was if it would last. Would he always be so gentle? Would he treat her just as well in a year, or two, or ten? She knew that she wanted the answer to be yes, that she hoped it would never end. But she also knew that was a ridiculous notion, that she barely knew him and needed to learn more before having those kinds of hopes.

Torturous time, the killer of dreams, would be the key.

She was mentally cursing the calendar when Carlisle waved his hand in her face to get her attention. "Bella, dear. Bella?"

Bella blinked rapidly a few times, shaking her head. "Whoa, spaced out for a second. Hey Mr. C! How's things?"

"Bella, I have heard you call my wife 'Esme' nearly every day for at least four years. Can you _please_ call me Carlisle?"

"Tell you what, Boss," she said, leaning over and offering him her cheek for a kiss. "I become a lawyer, and then I'll call you Carlisle."

"So I don't have long to wait, then," he said before kissing her cheek and smiling wide at her. "Our Bella's a prodigy," he said to Edward, still standing behind her, watching the exchange with a smile. "She's going to be the best lawyer in the state."

"And of absolutely no use to you once I am."

"Oh come now, I'm sure we'd be able to find some reason to use a family lawyer. Maybe we'll disown Emmett!"

"Pops! C'mon!" Emmett didn't even get up from the couch.

"I _do_ know about wills and last wishes," Bella said, thoughtfully, tapping one finger to her chin. Carlisle and Esme shared a giggle, and Edward moved to stand beside her in their little grouping.

"Cullen's is a family business, maybe they should have a family lawyer," he suggested, waggling his eyebrows and shooting her a wink.

Bella snorted. "No. You really need a real estate lawyer and a business lawyer. And an accountant."

"I'm the accountant!" Emmett called from the couch.

"Your degree is in finance, goofus," Bella said, letting out another giggle. "Not mathematics."

"But I am great at math!" he said, turning to shoot Bella a wide grin. "Two plus two is four, see?"

"Would everyone just cease with the volume? I'm feeling a bit ill," Alice said, reaching out and ruffling Henry's hair. Or at least she tried to. She ended up blindly rubbing his face. He giggled, but it was muffled by her hand. "Oh my God! He licked me!"

"Well, Alice, dear, the volume is actually quite manageable for the amount of people here, and he licked you because you stuck your hand by his mouth," Esme said patiently. "You're just too inebriated to comprehend those things."

"Too what to what?!"

"Carlisle, love, we raised the village idiot."

"Well, my sweet, at the very least she's pretty. She can always marry up."

"Like father, like daughter."

"Mom, Dad, if you could stop being cute for like five seconds, I'm trying to sober up, here!" Alice had moved herself to a sitting position, and was blinking very rapidly.

"She is something else," Edward said, stooping close to Bella and whispering in her ear. Bella barely suppressed a shudder at the sudden sensation of him standing so close, radiating warmth, his lips a hairsbreadth from her ear. "Quite entertaining."

"Well, then, you can take care of her tonight," Bella said, keeping her face forward.

""I would, but I don't have a couch."

Bella turned at that, her face and his separated by the width of one binding contract, and her eyes went wide. "You still don't have furniture?!"

"Hello, my name's Edward, we have spent every day together this last week and yet you seem to think I've got some sort of clone that went furniture shopping for me. Let me assure you, that it is in fact, me, Edward, and that no such clone exists." He had his hand out, waiting for a shake, and his tone was so full of sarcasm Bella was concerned that he might get stuck that way.

"Okay, Rickles, enough with the comedy." She reached out and accepted his handshake. "We are going shopping tomorrow. Be at my place at ten."

He released her hand and gave her a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am."

"Edward, honey, you have no furniture?" Esme leaned around Carlisle to fix Edward with a worried stare. "Why do you have no furniture?"

Edward's ears went pink and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhm, long story, Aunt Esme."

"Well, that won't do." Esme got that look on her face. That look that Bella knew very well,. That look that meant she was mentally going through the store inventory and picking out items to give away.

"I'm taking him shopping tomorrow, Esme."

"Be home between the hours of four and five," she responded, with her best "don't mess with me" face on.

"So between six and eight, then," Bella countered, giving Esme a long-suffering smirk.

"No, no, I plan to tell Jasper to get there between noon and two." Esme returned Bella's smirk, and shook her head.

"That… is genius!" Bella said. "Why are we not doing this all the time?!"

"Because he'd catch on eventually," Carlisle interjected. "When no one got mad at him for his tardiness anymore, he might suspect something."

"Well, I can still act mad at him!"

"You?" Esme said, sounding incredulous. "Dear, you're a total sweetheart! You couldn't possibly act angry with someone without cause!"

"Sure I can!" Bella said, turning to face Edward. "See? You! You… jerk!" She poked Edward once in the chest.

"That was the least convincing performance I've ever seen, and I saw Melanie Griffith play Roxie Hart." Carlisle chortled at Esme's statement, and Edward tried and failed to reign in his megawatt smile.

"Well," Bella said, addressing the entire group, "I suppose it could use some work."

Edward rubbed his thumb in soothing circles on her arm. "It's okay," he said. "Not everyone's a natural actor. Some of us," he continued, waggling his eyebrows, "are singers." Bella punched him once on his own arm, as hard as she could, but he just laughed.

"Oh, Bella, that reminds me!" Esme said, "We have to get the karaoke machine for the Christmas party!"

"Esme."

"What?"

"It's August."

"Well, it's never too early to start planning!" Esme said, beaming.

"Auuuuuntiiiiiieee Beeeeeeeewwaaaaaaa!"

"And, duty calls," Bella said, shooting a smile at the three of them, and headed back to see what Henry wanted.

"Auntie Bewwa! Monkeys!" Henry was bouncing excitedly from his place on Rosie's lap, shaking them both.

"Okay, pal, go get your ball." Rosalie shot Bella a grateful smile as she let Henry down and he darted to his room.

"He always sleeps like the dead after you visit."

"Well, I do what I can."

"And we both appreciate it," Emmett interjected, his eyes never leaving the game, but his hand drifting over to rest on Rosalie's knee. Rosalie took it in her own, smiling softly. Bella smiled at them both, feeling her heart swell at the sight of them, still so in love. They were well on their way to Carlisle and Esme status.

"Eugch." Alice was leaning as far away from the happy couple as she could on the couch.

"They're not eugch! They're cute!"

" _Eugch_."

"How come Mom and Dad being gushy is adorable and when we're gushy it's eugch?" Emmett asked, reaching out with his large arm and poking Alice repeatedly on the shoulder.

"Cause Mom and Dad are my parents. Their being gushy led to me, and I'm amazing. Therefore, their gushy stuff is amazing. You are my brother. You are always eugch, and you dragged Rose into it."

"Wow," Rose said. "She has such sound logic."

"We should build a shrine to her intellect," Bella added.

Alice gave them the bird.

"Auntie Bewwa, Auntie Bewwa!" Henry dashed into the room, carrying a bright orange mini beach ball. "I gots it! I gots it! Monkeys, monkeys,

monkeys!"

Bella knelt down next to him and whispered in his ear, causing the toddler to giggle. She pointed discreetly at Edward, who was talking to Esme and Carlisle, but she could see that he was watching them. Henry ran up to him and pulled hard on the leg of his jeans.

"Cousin Edwawd? Will you- will you- will you pway Monkeys wif me an Auntie Bewwa?"

Edward reached down and swooped Henry up by the waist, tossing him up a few inches before catching him, Henry's laughter pealing out through the living room. Edward shifted Henry so that he sat on one arm, and took the ball out of his tiny hands. "Okay," he said, "But Auntie Bella's got to explain the rules."

Bella was having a hard time breathing after that very manly, paternal display. Her cavewoman instincts were screaming at her to procreate, that the man in front of her, grinning with a toddler in his arms and a ball in his hand, was the perfect genetic candidate for optimal thriving offspring. She was kind of staring at Edward dumbly, her mouth slightly open, as he approached with Henry. Alice snorted from her spot on the couch, and reached out to swat Bella on the ass, breaking Bella out of her trance. She shot Alice a glare before turning back to Edward.

He handed her the ball, and she smiled. "It's Monkey in the Middle," she explained. "But he never wants to be anything other than the

monkey." She reached out to tweak Henry's nose, causing him to giggle.

"Well, why would he? It's the best part of the game."

"Please take that into the basement! I don't need any more artwork or furniture broken by a game of Monkeys," Rose called from the couch as Bella took Henry from Edward's arms, enjoying the tickling fire feeling where her arms brushed his.

"If you'll recall correctly, Rosie, every broken item was caused by none other than your Cro-Magnon spouse who insists on joining every game of Monkeys."

"Yes, but Edward is blood related to him, and it might be genetic."

"You make such an excellent point." She tweaked Henry's nose again, and he swatted at her hands and let out a laugh.

"Hey," Edward interjected, looking offended, "I only share as little as seven percent genetic code with that beast, and on average twelve point five. Do not compare me to Drunkie McShortstuff and Lou Ferrigno!"

"Pfffffffftttttt! Drunkie McShortstuff!" Alice chuckled from the couch, "That's such a good one!"

"Honey, he was talking about you," Esme pointed out helpfully.

"Yeah, but…" and she dissolved into a giggle fit, barely managing to choke out, "McShortstuff! Hilarious!" before letting out a huge unattractive snort and promptly falling back asleep.

Bella stood with a giggling toddler squirming around in her arms, gaping at her best friend. Good God, the woman had zero self-control. She glanced up and noticed Esme trying very hard not to laugh and Carlisle with his head in his hands, shaking slightly. She couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying. Rosalie was stunned, like Bella, and Emmett wasn't even making an effort to contain himself, he was flat-out guffawing.

Edward just stood there with his eyebrows raised, and his lips set into a thin line. "Twelve percent," he said solemnly, when he caught Bella staring at him. "That's it."

"Seems kind of high at the moment," Bella said, turning her horrified gaze back on Alice, now snoring like Bigfoot.

That was when everyone broke. Esme and Carlisle clutched each other, laughing and berating each other in equal measure for the behavior of their offspring. Rosalie joined Emmett in his laughter, and commiserated with him on the fact that their child shared twenty five percent of the little drunkard's genetic code. Edward was laughing so hard his eyes were squeezed shut and he was clutching the little ball to his gut.

Bella had never seen anything so wonderful in her entire life.

All of these people she loved, laughing together, and a man who could possibly be not "one" but "the one" fitting seamlessly into their lives.

Of course, he was related to all of these particular people she loved, meaning he had a much better chance of fitting in, but he fit nonetheless. And he was beautiful, laughing and wiping at his sparkling green eyes, staring back at her with humor and what had to be affection.

Alice had been woken once again by all of the laughter. "What's so funny?" she asked, blearily.

"Nothing," Bella said, smiling at her friend. "Absolutely nothing is funny about this."

She meant it. Nothing was funny about falling for your best friend's cousin. There was _especially_ nothing funny about falling for your boss.

And Bella felt the wind whipping around her as she stared back at Edward, his face glowing and his smile wide and crooked and aimed at her, and she could swear she was weightless.

*

 **A/N: Tell me what you hated! Tell me what you liked? Just tell me hi!**


	10. Chapter Ten

**A/N: Well, Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year to you all! It's 2 for 1 chapter week here at CFG, as a thank you for over 100 follows! That's insane, thank you all so much! I hope you all had a great holiday! Have fun with Mr. Masen's musings.**

 **Disclaimer: I own a refrigerator, which is an accomplishment. But I do not own the _Twilight_ characters.**

*

Edward had never spent so long in his closet as he had this morning. He was struggling to find an appropriate "furniture shopping with the girl I like but it's not a date but I have to look good" outfit. Unfortunately for Edward, he had no idea what that meant. And it was already 9:45, and he was standing in the middle of his closet wearing nothing but his boxer briefs and a panicked expression. His problem was obvious: he didn't know what to wear to a non-date date-like event with a girl who could very possibly maybe be the most important and wonderful girl he'd ever met. He was aware that this was a problem. He was aware that he had only fifteen minutes before he was supposed to be downstairs. He was acutely aware that he was out of options.

So, he texted Alice.

 **I need fashion advice. -E**

Her reply was almost instant, as though she were expecting this.

 _Of course you do. Everyone around me is so pathetically hopeless. -Ali_

Edward snorted.

 **Helpless, huh? Say, tiny, how's your head this morning? :p**

 _Do you want my help or not? /_

 **I am at your mercy, dearest cousin. Take pity on the clothing-challenged.**

 _Fine. But only because I'm your dearest cousin. Tell Tanya to suck it!_

 **It might be incredibly inappropriate for me to do so.**

 _Plus it would make Bella incredibly jealous._

Edward flushed a deep red as he decidedly ignored that statement and all of its assorted weird and gross implications (Like Bella possibly ever being jealous of his literal cousin). He instead laid out his options to Alice, even sending a few pictures. After she made some helpful pointers, Edward was dressed in jeans and a heavy knit sweater (a gift from Carlisle upon the news he was moving to Seattle) and on his way down to the girls' apartment. He knocked once, twice, and was going for a third when the door flew open, revealing a slightly disheveled Alice.

"Please do not make that noise again, it's incredibly annoying."

"You stole that from Chandler Bing." Edward was grinning at his cousin, who had bags under her eyes and what appeared to be barbecue sauce in her hair.

"Well, when he's right, he's right," she said, making way for Edward to enter the front room. "How do you know so many freakin' references anyway? Yesterday you got _The Parent Trap_ right off the bat." She folded her arms across her torso and grimaced as Edward turned on the light in the living room. "I had to watch that stupid touchdown dance at least twelve times before it clicked."

"Well," he said, feeling suddenly small, "uh, _she_ was out a lot. And my major was communications, so I watch a lot of TV, a lot of movies, listen to a lot of music. It's incredibly handy knowing exactly what everyone's talking about."

"I'll bet it is," Alice said, running her tiny hand through her short locks. She stopped abruptly and brought her hand close to her face for inspection of the thick brown substance stuck to her fingers. "Oh, for fuck's sake!" she said, stomping her way to the kitchen and running her hand under the sink. "It's not enough that I had to drive with the maniac, but now I've got barbecue sauce in my hair?!"

"Hey, you made it home okay!"

"Where I promptly threw up."

"Might have been the copious amounts of alcohol, but sure, blame me." Edward made his way into the kitchen and leaned with his back to the counter, shooting his cousin a smug grin.

"I will! My God, the mental spinning is bad enough without adding _actual_ spinning!" Alice had a wad of wet paper towels now, and was pressing it to her head, searching for stray sauce. "How did this even happen?!"

"Pretty sure it was Henry."

"Dammit! I can't even be mad at him! He's too adorable!"

Edward reached out and took the paper towel mass from Alice, passing her a fresh set. He dumped the sauce-stained bunch into the trash, before turning back to Alice. "Why don't you just take a shower?"

"Bella's in there, getting ready."

"Oh." He wondered then what Bella looked like in the morning, or when she was getting ready, or when she was making breakfast. A morning with Bella was immediately added to his bucket list, which was becoming increasingly clogged with Bella-related activities.

"Hey Ali, are you sure-" Bella said, entering the kitchen in a cloud of freesia and strawberry scent, her hair just slightly damp and starting to fluff out into waves, dressed in a thick, oversized sweater, thick socks, leggings, and boots. "Oh." Bella glanced at Edward as her cheeks pinked up. "Hi."

"Hello," he said, but he couldn't remember telling his mouth to move. She was… beautiful. He thought that a lot but it didn't make it any less true. In her business attire, she was a delight: professional but still fun. In her club outfit, she was sexy: curves and soft dimensions everywhere, and yet so sweet. On game day she looked like a goofball in her jersey and sneakers, ready for the stadium inside the comfort of Emmett and Rose's place.

Bella in her casual wear was comforting. Like a hot drink on a cold day, or like rain on the windows as he watched a good film. She was like coming home. He wanted to see her in casual wear much, much more often. Something about knowing that she was both comfortable and still breathtaking was so alluring. He loved that she wanted to be comfortable for a day out with him, that she wasn't dolled up and decked out, doomed to a day of itching and aching instead of enjoying their time together.

He suddenly found himself desperate to know what her pajamas looked like. How she looked when she was sleepy, how she looked just before she fell asleep, what she looked like when she dreamed.

Lovely. Another bucket list item.

He realized then that he had been staring at her for an inordinate amount of time, so he reached out and tugged gently on a lock of her hair. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Just gotta get my coat," she said, smiling and removing his hand from her hair, holding on for what he suspected was longer than absolutely necessary.

"I'll get it," he said. "It's on the hook, right?"

"Yeah," she said, biting down on her bottom lip, driving Edward to near-distraction. "The blue one."

"Well, I figured the hot pink was probably Alice," he countered, moving around her to exit the kitchen.

As he crossed the living room, he heard Alice say softly, "See? I told you to be you. Comfortable is good."

"Well, thanks for the tip, Ali-Bee." Bella's voice was quiet and full of gratitude. It seemed he hadn't been the only one having trouble finding an outfit this morning.

Edward returned with Bella's coat, and assisted her as she put it on. He gently reached in and pulled her hair out from the back of the jacket, smiling as the silky tresses ran through his fingers. God, he loved her hair. Bella turned and smiled up at him, a silent thank-you.

"You two have fun!" Alice said, and they both seemed to simultaneously remember that she was there in the kitchen with them. "No drinking, have her home by eleven, and make good choices."

"That is quite possibly the most hypocritical thing you've ever said to me," Bella said, voice deadpan as she grabbed Edward by the arm and started leading him to the door.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you 'Do as I say, not as I do'?"

"Only when I found her stash."

Alice was guffawing loudly as Bella grabbed her keys and her bag out of the entry and dragged Edward out of the apartment.

Outside the door, she whirled on him, grinning.

"Hey, boss, look," she said, fingering the sleeve of his sweater, "we match."

Edward looked down at himself, and let out a chuckle. His green sweater and hers could have been on the same shelf in a store. His brown boots matched hers, though hers were tall, reaching almost to her knees, paired with fuzzy white socks with a blue stripe at the top stopping just above her knee. The laces on both pairs were the same, though, and the color was spot on. She didn't know it, but he had blue in his socks too.

"So we do," he said, smiling back at her. "You're pulling it off much better than I am, though."

She blushed prettily at his compliment as they began to head to the parking lot, and Edward started fiddling with his phone.

"What are you doing?" she asked, attempting to peek over his arm to see his phone.

"Mind your own business, Swan," he said, moving his phone away with one hand and tugging a lock of her hair with the other. He seemed to be making a habit of that gesture, but Bella didn't seem to mind. He was glad. Her hair was soft and he liked the excuse to touch it.

"Oh it is _on_!" she said, and she started jumping up at him, reaching for his phone, which he deftly held out of reach. An easy feat, considering he was a good ten inches taller than her. He was laughing, and she was both laughing and making little sounds of effort as she jumped. She tried tugging on his sleeve, she clung to his arm and pulled, but she was so small he just raised his arm higher and lifted her off the ground. She squeaked at that, curling slightly into a ball before dropping back down to the floor and resuming her jumping. Edward reached out with his free hand and placed it on top of Bella's head, causing her to cease her efforts.

"As much fun as this is," he said, "and it is, good things come to those who wait, Miss Swan."

"Have you seen that video of Chris Hemsworth where he's eating soup and he keeps taking sips and saying 'still hot'? That's patient compared to me." She was looking up at him around his arm, because his hand was still planted on top of her head. "Waiting is not my strong suit."

"Well, luckily," he said, "it's one of mine. And you don't have long to wait on this one." He shook his phone for her benefit. Edward removed his hand and kept moving toward the car, leaving Bella in the dust.

He thought he heard her mutter, "I really hate waiting," but it could have been "The roller skate dating" so he didn't respond.

She caught up to him quickly, and he nudged her with his elbow. "You can wait a little. I promise it's worth it."

She got a funny look in her eye then, like she was somewhere else entirely, far away from him. "That's what I'm counting on," she said, the dreamlike quality of her stare causing Edward to pause. She shook her head, and when she looked up at him once more, he knew she wasn't talking about the coffee that he'd ordered for them a minute ago. Not just because she didn't even know about the coffee, but because she was looking at him like he was the only other person on the planet.

No one had ever looked at him like that. Not Victoria, not his high school prom date, not anyone. His stomach did one slow somersault.

Edward realized then that they had arrived at his car. He opened Bella's door first, making a grand hand gesture that caused her to giggle. She folded her small frame into the vehicle, and he gently shut the door before hustling to the driver's side. When they were both in the car he handed Bella the aux cable, indicating that she should choose the music.

He roared out of the parking lot and started heading for the Starbucks just as the first notes of a Florence and the Machine song started to play.

Bella looked out the window at the passing street signs, before turning back to Edward. "You have no idea where the Ikea is, do you?"

"Well, you're navigator today," he said, shooting her a quick smile.

"Okay then. You're going the wrong way."

"Not quite yet." He smiled as he pulled into the Starbucks drive through, which was miraculously empty.

"Oh yay! I need caffeine!" Bella was bouncing up and down in her seat, undercutting her statement a bit.

"When don't you?" Edward asked with a smile at the hyperactive girl in the passenger seat.

She settled back in her seat as they approached the ordering screen. "When I'm dead, I suppose."

"Hi, welcome to Starbucks, can I take your order?" came the crackling voice of what had to be some bored teenager.

"Edward, do you know my order?" Bella asked, leaning toward the screen, eyes scanning a menu she was never going to use anyway.

"Do I know your- my God Bella, I'd have to be some sort of _idiot_ not to know- jeez woman, do I look- you know what? Never mind," he replied, unable to properly articulate the fact that he could and probably did recite her Starbucks order in his sleep. He'd seen it on eight cups in the past week, and she spouted it off to Jessica every time she went on a coffee run. He would have to be incredibly unobservant not to know her Starbucks order. That, and he'd confirmed it with Alice earlier this morning. "Mobile order for Edward, please," he said to the screen.

"Next window, please," the voice said, somehow managing to sound condescending and even more disinterested all at once.

"She seems delightful," Bella said, smiling as the screen disappeared from view. "So that was what you were doing with your phone, huh?"

"Well, that or I was telling the contract killer where he could find us at exactly 10:13 AM, Pacific Standard Time." Bella slapped Edward's arm and he let out a chuckle. They reached the pick up window and the definitely bored teenager appeared with one hot cup and one cold cup, her wild turquoise hair spilling out of her green cap and several rings dangling from her ears and nose. "Thanks," Edward said as he took the coffees, handing Bella hers and settling his into a cup holder. "Could I get a straw, please?"

"It would be the highlight of my day," she said, disappearing briefly and reappearing with the aforementioned straw. She handed it to him and he handed it to Bella, whose lips were pressed together to suppress a smile and eyes watering from the effort of holding in her mirth.

"Thank you," Edward said.

"Have a happy caffeinated Monday," said the cashier, voice devoid of any emotion.

Edward sped out of the drive through just as Bella burst into laughter, and he soon joined her, that now familiar sound of their giggling mingling together over the dulcet voice of Florence Welch. "Oh my God," Bella said, still giggling. "She was like someone forced the soul of Oscar the Grouch out of its Muppet body and into a nineteen year old girl!"

"I wonder what she'd be like at Disney World?" Edward mused over his own chuckles.

"'This place is for babies and the idiot masses who ascribe to the belief that growing up is synonymous with untimely death'," Bella said, her laughter cutting off abruptly as she put on a slightly too happy impression of their barista.

Edward glanced at her as he drove, a little impressed, eyebrow raised, before succumbing to renewed giggles, Bella joining in shortly after. She stopped to take a sip of her coffee. "She makes a damn good coffee, though. Thanks for this, Edward," she added, staring appraisingly at the cup. Edward took a sip of his own coffee and nodded in agreement. "Ooooh, hang on!" Bella said, and she snatched the coffee out of his hand and set it next to hers in the console.

"Hey!"

"Shh."

She arranged the cups just so, with the labels that said "EDWARD" facing her, and whipped her phone out. She lined up a shot of the two cups, took a photo, and then started poking at her screen and giggling.

"Can I have my coffee now?" Edward asked, casting her a sidelong glance.

"Yes, you can," she said, sounding satisfied. "What's your instagram?"

"Why?" His eyebrows raised as he kept his eyes on the path.

"Just tell me, Mr. Mysterio."

"Fine. It's e dot a dot Masen." He really hoped she wasn't going to go through his feed. He didn't have anything particularly embarrassing on it, but there was a shot of Victoria that he'd taken of her sitting under the Bean in Chicago. (Edward exclusively called it "The Bean" instead of its actual name: "Cloud Gate". He did so because the artist, Anish Kapoor, was a total art snob and Edward loved the drama of his feud with another artist, Stuart Semple, over the use of the blackest pigment known to man. He'd read several articles on it and followed Semple on social media. None of that was important to whether or not Bella would see the Bean photo, but he did caption it "The Bean" and tagged Kapoor in it.)

"The one with the rainy glass as the profile picture?" Bella asked, sounding a little judgmental.

"I don't do selfies."

Bella let out a giggle and then looked up out the window. "Hey, you made it to Ikea!"

"I can read a map, yes," he said, turning to smile at her. "Looked it up last night."

"Good, because I am a terrible navigator."

Edward parked and they made their way into the giant furniture store. He checked his phone and saw that he had two instagram notifications.

 **bellmarieswan followed you!**

 **bellmarieswan tagged you in a post**

He opened the post and saw the photo of their coffees. She'd framed it so you could just make out Edward driving in the background, slightly blurred. The caption read: Two types of coffee drinkers ft. Edward. It already had several likes and one comment from **m.alicebc** : "Why does Edward hate flavor?" which Bella had replied to with: "Too late, I used that joke three days ago." Edward smiled and hit the follow button next to Bella's name. Then he hit the heart-shaped like button below the photo.

When he looked up, Bella was smiling down at her phone. She held it out to show him and he saw the notifications on her home screen:

 **e.a.masen followed you!**

 **e.a.masen liked your post**

Edward smiled back, and they wandered into the displays, being sure to follow the large arrows on the floor to avoid getting lost.

"I'm scared to buy things after Aunt Esme said that Jasper's delivering things. I have no idea what she's sending."

"Oh, don't worry," Bella reassured him. "She sent me the list. I'll let you know if you don't need it."

"Can't you just tell me what she's sending?" he asked.

"And ruin the surprise?" She held a hand to her chest, scandalized. "Esme would kill me. Kindly, but I'd still be dead."

Edward sighed and shook his head. "Couch?"

"Yeah, you need that," she said, wandering into a living room display and flopping unceremoniously onto the couch in it.

"How's that one?" he asked, amusedly as he moved to stand in front of her.

"Good, but not perfect. Don't even sit on it. It's not the couch for you." She was rubbing the arm of the couch as she said it, apparently to console it for the rejection, because she added: "Sorry, buddy."

"Alright then." He extended his hand, and she took it to pull herself up, and he felt it yet again, the electric buzzing. He loved the electric buzzing.

They meandered through the aisles, looking at various furniture items, taking photos of items and codes for potential winners. He allowed Bella to pick his guest bedroom furniture, though there wasn't much. Apparently Aunt Esme was providing the dresser and the bed. He let her do it because he valued her opinion, and because the happy expression she made while she found pieces for him made him want to let her furnish the entire place. She wouldn't, though. She only took the guest room because "Well, you're not gonna spend time in there anyway!"

"And you are?" he'd asked, and then enjoyed the way her face flushed red.

"Well, no, but it could use a woman's touch!"

So she'd picked, and he'd observed.

They were in another living room display when a middle-aged kind-looking woman wearing a name tag that read Shelley approached them.

"Can I help you two find anything?"

"We're furnishing a living room!" Bella said excitedly, grinning at Shelley and gesturing to the display. "This one's not quite right though."

"No, I don't think so either," Edward added, smiling over at Bella before returning his attention to the employee.

"Well, aren't you two adorable?" Shelley cooed. "Did you just move in together?"

"Actually-"

"Yes, we did," Bella interrupted, twining her arm with Edward's and leaning her head on his shoulder. "All of our old furniture was our old roommates' things, and we wanted to start fresh." She used her free hand and ran her fingers along Edward's arm.

"How sweet!" Shelley clapped her hands together, and then indicated they should follow her. "I think I know just the set!"

Edward stooped down and whispered in Bella's ear. "Quick question: what are you doing?"

"Having fun," she responded, beaming up at him. "Come on, you want to disappoint the nice lady? Us not being together would have devastated her."

"I don't think she holds that much stock in strangers."

"Of course she does. She's a baby boomer. That's all they hold stock in." Bella shrugged once. "That and Microsoft." And she grabbed Edward's hand, holding tightly, and dragged him off after Shelley.

"How long have you two been together?" Shelley asked as they made their way through the store.

"Three years," Bella responded.

"How lovely!"

"Now, love, you know it's three and a half," Edward added helpfully, and Bella squeezed his hand to keep from laughing.

"I don't believe in counting months. It's all or nothing."

"Every day with you is an achievement, dear, I'm just being sure to document them."

"My word, he is a keeper." Shelley had her hand over her heart, as she led them into another display.

"I think so," Bella said, smiling softly up at him, eyes full of sincerity. He suddenly felt very warm.

"Well, this is it, lovebirds," Shelley said, gesturing to the room.

It was… perfect. The couch was low and U-shaped, with a matching coffee table that fit neatly into the U's divot, and the crowning glory: a wall sized entertainment center that housed shelves for CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, and whatever else he could find. Everything was black with dove grey and gold tone accents.

Edward looked at Bella, who was watching him as he took the room in. She grinned and nodded, and Edward closed the distance between them and swept her up in a hug, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around. When he set her back on the ground, he turned to Shelley, whose smile looked like it was going to break her face.

"We'll take it!" he said.

*

Wallet feeling significantly wider and trunk full of lamps and kitchen accessories, Bella and Edward left Ikea with delivery scheduled for two hours from then.

"Let's get some food. My treat!" Bella said from the passenger seat, a large clock in her arms.

"Okay, but nothing Swedish. I don't think I could take it."

They ended up at a burger spot that Bella loved, discussing Edward's purchases.

"I am so jealous of that entertainment center. It's a thing of beauty." Bella said before taking a long sip of her Coke.

"Well, I do have about six thousand CDs and movies that need a home. Might as well be that home."

"Six thousand?!"

"Yep." Edward took a long pull of his Dr. Pepper. "Six thousand one hundred and thirty-two to be exact."

"Jesus H. Christ. You… really like media." Bella rested her head on her hand, levelling Edward with a stare.

Edward rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze. "I, uh, like to keep up. For communications, you know? Plus…" He looked at Bella, eyes sparkling with curiosity, and he couldn't bring himself to say it. "Never mind."

"Oh no, you don't get to pull that one," she said. "We never finished twenty questions! Question thirteen: Plus what?" She folded her hands on the table, waiting.

Edward held her gaze, holding his breath. When she quirked her eyebrow, defiant, he let his breath out in a gust and said, "Fine." He shifted slightly in his seat, uncomfortable. "My, uhm, my ex was out of the house a lot. I watched movies and listened to music to pass the time, and because she didn't really like them."

"She didn't… like movies and music?"

"Or TV."

"What kind of crazy person doesn't like movies, music, or TV?" Bella asked, mouth agape.

Edward figured since he never wanted to mention Victoria again, he might as well go all in. "The kind that cheats on you because you're inattentive and a little lazy."

"I'm sorry… What?!" Bella was sitting up straight now, no classic leaning, and she looked almost… angry.

"Yeah… uhm, she did that." Edward stared into his Dr. Pepper, praying for a distraction. Maybe the waiter would return with their food.

"What… a…"

Edward waited for her admonishment. Waited for her to ask what kind of man can't satisfy a woman. Waited for her to say all the things Victoria said. Waited for the questions about laziness and inattentiveness. Waited for what he was so irrationally (even he could recognize that) afraid of.

It didn't come.

" _Bitch!_ " Edward's head shot up at the word. Bella looked so mad she could spit. "Trying to blame you because she cheated?! Oh my God!" Bella gasped. "This is why you think I won't like you, isn't it?! This is why you don't realize how great you are! I've never been one to hate somebody, but sweet Christ, I _hate_ this chick!" She paused to take another sip of soda. "I mean, you're not inattentive! I've been working with you all week and you've been incredibly caring and attentive to everyone at work. And lazy?! Hell, she obviously never saw you with Henry! I was exhausted just looking at you trying to play with that kid. And you work so hard at the store, and you learn so fast. Ugh! Edward," she reached across the table and took his hand, and he looked up into her eyes. "You're wonderful. Don't let some redhead jerk make you think otherwise."

"Checked my instagram, did you?" He smiled at their joined hands.

"Actually, Alice mentioned it, but you bet your ass I'm checking later. I love cyber stalking hot guys." She ducked her head into his eye line and smiled.

Edward raised his head once more, grinning widely. "I've never had someone try to defend my honor. It's nice."

"You've got honor worth defending." She squeezed his hand.

They sat like that, hands joined, grinning at one another, until the food arrived.

"Just so you know," she said, dipping fries into her ketchup, "I love TV, movies, and music. Keep that in mind."

He would.

*

They were in his empty living room, assembling furniture, when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Edward said, dusting off his hands and heading for the door.

"Good, cause it's your house and I probably shouldn't answer doors that aren't mine." Bella was fitting shelves into his new entertainment center, and glancing critically back at the couch every few seconds. He could tell she wanted to switch up the placement. She'd already done it twice, but the wall the entertainment center was on was the best wall for it, meaning the couch had to stay put.

"Don't even think about it," he told her, eliciting a pout, before opening the door.

In front of him stood a man about his height, with sandy blonde hair and blue-grey eyes, grinning at him. "Hey there, Masen," he said, extending his hand. "Jasper Whitlock, in the flesh." Edward and Jasper had met twice over the phone. Once when Bella got so frustrated with Jasper that she shoved the phone at Edward and made him figure it out, and once again on a conference call with Rosalie where they both had to act like they didn't know each other because they didn't want to rat out Bella.

"Jaaaaaaaaaay!" came Bella's voice from behind him before she barreled past Edward and slapped Jasper, hard, on the arm. "You were supposed to be here at two!"

"Dangit woman, I'm sorry, okay?!" Jasper was rubbing his arm, and Edward let out a chuckle. "Now I got guys and furniture here, where do you want em?"

"Bring up the bed," she said, before returning to her task with the shelves.

Jasper rolled his eyes at Edward, who let out another laugh, and went downstairs to get the furniture. Ten minutes later he reappeared at the door with a bed frame, ornately carved and made of a dark, rich wood. Bella, who finished with shelves and was now organizing CDs by genre and then alphabetically. (As a side note, Edward had never been more sure than in that moment that she was the perfect woman). "Hey, Edward is Mumford and Sons folk or alt?" she asked, turning to him and noticing the bed. "Oh my God! She didn't!"

"Who didn't what?" Edward asked, confused.

"I told her you were gonna freak out," Jasper said, shaking his head.

"Oh my God!"

"What is going on?!" Edward asked.

"This bed is my favorite piece in the entire store, and they've never been able to sell it because it's too expensive." Bella was running her hand along the curved headboard, admiring the carvings. "I can't believe she gave it to you!" She smiled up at Edward, but then her face fell. "Oh fuck! It doesn't match the stuff I picked out!"

Edward reached out and tugged a lock of her hair. "Funny enough, it matches some of my stuff."

"Oh man, we'll have to rearrange everything!" Bella couldn't even look away from the bed though, and Edward wasn't about to let it go.

"Just the nightstands," he said. "I'm switching rooms. This bed and my nightstands, the dresser Esme's sending, and the armchair you picked out at Ikea."

"But I only picked it because you weren't going to be spending time in there. Why would you switch rooms?"

"So? I still like the armchair. And have you seen this thing?" He gestured to the bed. "There's no way I'm not using that bed."

Bella beamed up at him and she immediately ran to the bedroom. He heard scraping and he assumed she was moving his nightstands.

"Well ain't y'all the sweetest?" Jasper said, smirking at Edward.

"We're good friends, yeah," he responded, refusing to give up any intel to the man who was never on time.

"You tell yourself that," Jasper said, looking smug. Edward just rolled his eyes.

They were genuinely terrible at hiding the way they felt about each other. Edward liked her. He liked her more than he'd ever liked anyone, and he was attracted to her like he was a really dumb moth and she was a bonfire. It was too early… too soon to say he loved her. But it didn't stop him from feeling it. He loved her the way you love people you want to be in your live forever. He loved her like he wanted to take care of her. He loved her like he wanted to know everything about her. Like he wanted to spend all of his time with her. Like he wanted to make her smile. Like he wanted her to love him.

He wasn't _in_ love with her, not yet.

But he was well on his way.

*

It was about eight o clock, and Edward's apartment was finally settled. Bella was perusing his movie collection and drinking one of his 805s. Edward was putting pizza onto his new plates, and he grabbed an 805 out of the fridge for himself.

"Find one?" he called out to Bella.

"Found, like, eighty. I want to live in this entertainment center!" She was surrounded by movies and TV season box sets. She took another drink and resumed her search.

"Sounds like we'll need to have movie nights."

" _Yes_. Plus, I know for a fact that you have stuff Ali, Jess, Jake, and Angie all want to see, so we can fill up that nice new couch of yours." She turned and smiled at him as he settled on the aforementioned couch.

"That would be nice," he said.

"Okay, I got it! We're watching _That Thing You Do!_ because I love Tom Hanks, and because 'I am Sparticus'." She popped in the DVD, and went to settle next to Edward on the couch, tucking into her pizza.

"Oh that's a good choice," Edward said, "You know my biggest musical inspiration is Cap'n Geech and the Shrimp-Shack Shooters."

They watched the movie for a while, laughing and enjoying the campy, fun film. When Faye admonished herself for giving away her kisses to Jimmy, with her eyes closed so tight, he could see the sheen of unshed tears in Bella's eyes, and her lips were forming the words. Well, that was adorable.

"Hey, Edward?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"She was wrong, you know. Your ex."

"Oh." He stared at his hands as Shades asked Jimmy why he couldn't have dumped Faye in Pittsburgh.

"You're wonderful, Edward. She was wrong." Her hand reached across the couch, grasping his.

"She was right. She was right about how I was with her. She's not going to be right about how I am now." He squeezed her hand.

"Okay," she said, and he saw her smile, illuminated by the glowing screen of the TV, and he knew she was right.

He would be okay.

*

 **A/N: Well? What's the verdict? Don't leave me hanging! Tell me what's what!**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**A/N: Well, hello. Before you say anything, I'm very sorry. In other news, by students' musical went off without a hitch! Real life got very busy for me, and I am truly sorry for the lateness of the update. But enough from me, you guys want to hear from Edward and Bella, right? On with the show!**

 **Disclaimer: I own only my phone and a very Twilight-themed group chat that consists of three of us screaming about how much we love Edward.**

*

The past few weeks had blurred together for Bella She'd started school again, and her nights were filled with classes and homework and case studies and energy drinks. She woke each morning at an ungodly hour, worked on her assignments, and then got ready for whatever the day held: school or work. She got home from her job or from class and she made herself (and sometimes others) something to eat and then continued to work on assignments until she fell asleep and repeated the entire process over again. When she was at work, she was so focused on her work and her team that she barely had any time for fun.

The key word there being "barely."

It was impossible for the fun not to find her, it seemed, because despite Bella's focus and lack of time and energy, there had already been standout moments of joy in her personal chaos.

The weekend before she'd resumed classes, Jake had taken her out on the town with Seth and Leah, and even Angela had joined them for one drink. They'd pub-crawled through the city, ending up back at the bar where she'd first kissed Edward. She'd been so drunk that she'd actually texted him, sending a picture of the bar and the stools they'd sat at. Edward had sent back a laughing emoticon, and Bella had been incredibly disappointed in his apparent lack of interest in the place they'd first met. Until he showed up, that is.

"Edward! Boss man!" Jake had yelled across the bar, causing Bella to turn much too quickly and almost stumble. Almost, because of course her knight in blue jeans and Vans caught her. He was proving to be very good at that. Edward had tugged on a lock of her hair, smiling.

"Wow, who let you have tequila?" he asked.

"Jake!"

"Well, he should know better," Edward's brows raised as his eyes sought out Jacob on the dance floor.

"He would, but he had about six more shots than I did." She giggled drunkenly and Edward returned his smile to her, a gift that kept on giving in her opinion. God, he was beautiful. "God, you're beautiful."

"I thought we agreed to save that particular endearment for you," he said, leading her by the hand over to the bar where Seth and Leah were gathering the next round.

"I did not agree!" she argued, angrily. "I'm just gonna keep sayin' it, cause it's true."

"Okay then, beautiful, do what you've got to do."

Bella felt her face flush from his compliment, and cursed the alcohol in her veins making the blood slosh up her neck even faster.

"Heeeey, Boss!" said Leah, when they reached them. "Whatcha drinkin', Masen?"

Edward leaned between Leah and Seth to the bartender, holding out shiny silver plastic. "Start a tab, please, and keep the four of us on it," he said, "Plus the big one over there on the dance floor." He pointed over at Jake. "And I'll take two fingers of Jameson."

"Hell yes, Boss!" Seth screamed.

"I'm liking you more and more, dude," said Leah. She handed Bella her shot, held out her own, and Seth joined in. "To the best boss in Seattle!"

"To Edward!" Seth and Bella chorused together.

The all knocked back their drinks just as Edward received his, and he turned to grin at them, making a "not at all" gesture as he sipped his whiskey.

"Oh my God! Bella-la-la!" Seth said suddenly, "I _love_ this song!" Bella had no idea what the song was, but the bass was booming and the beat was fast. "Dance with me!" And he snatched her shot glass, set both his and hers on the bar top, and dragged her by the arm onto the dance floor, where he began to shake and move around her.

It took a second, possibly even many seconds, for Bella to join him. But she did, swinging and swaying her hips and raising her arms, stepping in time to the beat. When did she get rhythm? Shouldn't she have fallen by now? It had to be tequila black magic, because she was actually dancing with some semblance of ability. She didn't know when, but Leah joined them, and they were all dancing together, Seth belting the lyrics to "his jam".

And then Jake danced his way over, and as he started to circle his way around to Leah, he revealed Edward standing behind him, entirely immobile.

"Dance, boss!" Jake shouted back at him, and he and Leah both laughed.

Bella, emboldened once again by the most dangerous substance in the universe, reached out and took Edward's hands in hers. She pulled him close, then stepped back, stepped to the left, steeped to the right, and then suddenly she wasn't leading. Edward was. He twirled her out, wrapped her close, made some complicated bridge of their arms, and then went back to stepping.

Holy hell. He was a great dancer. He would be so disappointed when he realized that she could only do this while plastered.

He was smiling down at her, and they were dancing, and Bella couldn't remember ever feeling so happy to be at the bar.

She'd gone to class the next day, sans hangover, but with a trente iced coffee. With four shots of espresso. Partying with Jake was hard work.

Two weeks later, it was her birthday. Esme and Alice had decorated the entire break room, much to Bella's dismay. Alice had gotten her a crazily expensive bottle of tequila, of all things. Bella just glared at her while Alice laughed her ass off. Esme and Carlisle got her several new and old books, which Bella had hugged to her chest like a child and squealed over before promising to display them on the bookshelf in their entry. Rosalie and Emmett (and Henry, who had drawn a smiley face on her card) brought cake and other treats for her and the other employees, and took Bella, Jess, Alice, and Jake out for a fancy lunch, where they presented her with a stand mixer for her kitchen. Bella had bounced up and down in her seat, giggling like a kid on Pixie Stix. Jake had given her his traditional gift: a six pack of craft beer and one free ticket back to Forks to see her dad on a date of her choosing. Despite disliking the limelight, Bella was actually enjoying her birthday. Twenty four was a good age, she'd decided.

She couldn't help the niggling feeling of yearning scratching at the back of her mind, however. Edward had the day off work that day. She missed him. They kept in almost constant contact these days, be it instagram comments, tweets, snapchats, or text messages, Bella and Edward were always talking. It had started with Edward sending her a picture of his entertainment center with all of the DVDs piled up around the floor, captioned "I cannot decide what to watch and at this point I'm afraid to make a decision." From then on, they would send each other pictures of whatever they were doing, messages whenever something reminded them of the other, messages when one of them remembered something vital (like the fact that the guy who plays Kylo Ren was in the movie she was watching), messages about nothing at all, messages about religion and politics and family and friendships and education and work and everything.

So today, on her birthday, she missed him, and wanted more than his words. She wanted him.

He'd texted her that morning, and she'd smiled like an absolute idiot at her phone for five minutes.

 **Happy birthday, beautiful! (If the name fits, you're wearing it.) The world is blessed that you're in it, and that's cause to celebrate you even more than usual today. -Edward**

And he'd included a gif of a puppy eating birthday sheet cake, which made her laugh out loud.

When she got home that day, she couldn't see a foot in front of her from the multiple packages in her arms. (Because two trips is for suckers.) She was trying to decide exactly how she was going to retrieve her keys from her pocket when the packages disappeared from her arms.

Because of course the perfect man was there to take them. That's just how things were working out at twenty four for Bella.

"Edward!" she said, beaming up at him.

"Birthday girl," he said, smiling down at her. "Open up, will you? This mixer must be made of cement."

Bella scrambled for her keys, unlocked the door and ushered him inside. He set all of her gifts on the small kitchen table, and next thing she knew she was in the air. She squealed as Edward spun around and around. "Put me down!"

"Gotta spin twenty four times," he said.

"You're supposed to punch me," she said through her giggles.

"And hit a woman?" he stopped spinning and looked up into her face. Her hands were planted on his shoulders, elbows locked, steadying her body as he lifted her from the waist, her hair falling all around them. "Never." And then he continued spinning, causing Bella to shriek.

When he finally set her down, she took a step and stumbled back into his arms, dizzy. "Whoa… head rush." Edward just chuckled at her.

There was a loud knock on the door, and Edward made sure she was steady before going to open it.

"Hey, you can't open my door in my apartment when I'm home!"

"Sure I can," he said, grinning at her and moving backward through the living room. He swung around and flung the door open to reveal Seth, Leah, Angela, Ben, Maggie, and Jake. "Surprise," he said, beaming at her stunned expression. Her friends were each carrying various party accoutrements. Solo cups, bags of ice, bottles of liquor, packs of soda, bags of chips, dessert trays, juices for mixing, and a breast pump… because Angela.

"Surprise!" they shouted together.

"Get outta the way, boss!" Jake shouted. "I'm carrying half my body weight here!"

Edward shuffled out of the way and the party began. Jessica and Alice joined in after the store closed, and quickly caught up to the rest of the group, sobriety-wise. Angela had sportingly agreed to be designated driver considering she couldn't drink while breastfeeding anyway. Bella, in her heightened state, cooed over Maggie more fervently than usual, giving her tummy raspberries and playing a rousing game of peekaboo. Jake had the idea in his head that she should take twenty four shots, but considering that particular bright idea would put her in the hospital, they decided to split them into four shots each for Bella, Jake, Seth, Leah, Ben, and Jessica.

At that point the night started to get fuzzy. She remembered very little, aside from Jessica yelling at her that she was taking her bed and they would have to snuggle. When Angela took Leah, Seth, and Ben home she let Bella give Maggie one more raspberry, and that was nice. That left Jessica, asleep in her bed, Alice, asleep on the couch, snoring away, Jake, asleep on Alice's floor (which he called the comfiest place in the apartment), Edward, who was basically sober, and Bella, loopy, but quickly regaining function.

"Did you have fun?" he asked her as he plopped down beside her on the couch. She leaned her head over onto his shoulder and nodded.

"Yes, I did," she said, smiling softly. "Thank you."

"Evening's not over yet, Swan."

Bella made a show of pulling her phone out of her pocket to check the time. "It's 12:04, bucko. Consider this morning."

"Would you shut up and let me give you your present?" he said, poking her once in the side. She giggled and wriggled away from his tickling fingers.

"Fine, but this better be good, Masen."

He just rolled his eyes and shoved himself off the couch, heading to the bookcase. He pulled out a blue bag covered in daisies that Bella had failed to notice, and then he made his was to the kitchen. She heard rustling, and he emerged holding a small paper box and the daisy bag. He sat next to her once more, and set the box on the coffee table, opening it to reveal a red velvet cupcake. Her favorite. He pulled out a candle and a lighter, stuck the candle in the frosting, and lit it for her.

"Make a wish, Bella."

Bella closed her eyes, and thought for a moment. _This time next year,_ she thought, _I wish to be able to kiss Edward Masen any time I want._ Not her brightest wish, but she was still fairly inebriated. She huffed in a breath and blew out the candle.

"What'd you wish for?" Edward asked, grinning.

"You and I both know I'm not supposed to say."

"Yeah, but it's fun to ask anyway."

"So, what's in the bag?" she asked, eyeing the little package next to Edward on the couch.

Edward chuckled. "Well, open it then," he said, handing it over.

Bella tore through the tissue paper, pawing through until she came up with a small box. She opened it and gasped aloud. Nestled inside the velvet was an intricate rose gold ring with a woven band and patterns of green leaves and delicate little enamel yellow roses spread across the top. It was stunning. Bella kept staring at it, willing the moisture in her eyes to dissipate.

"I saw it in a vintage shop Alice recommended," Edward said. "Yellow roses symbolize true friendship, and I felt like that was true for us." Bella just kept staring at the ring, thinking of Edward finding it and thinking of her, thinking of him calling her a true friend, and trying very hard to keep it together. It was a battle she was losing. Edward, apparently worried that she hated it (which was impossible) just kept right on rambling. "I can return it though, if you want, if it's too much, or too intimate, or if we're not that close, you know? It won't be a big deal if you don't like it, I'll get you something else. I can –"

Bella slapped her hand over his mouth and tore her glassy eyes away from the ring. "It's perfect." She leaned over and kissed his cheek once, before snatching the ring out of the box and slipping it on her left index finger. "I'm wearing it forever, so shut up about taking it back."

Edward grinned like he'd won the lottery.

They put on Friends and watched Joey get hit by Punky Brewster until they'd both fallen asleep next to Alice on the couch.

For the past few weeks after her party, they'd taken to showing up unannounced at each others doors with food, movies, or people, ready to rant about their crazy customers or classes or the scheduling program (which Edward claimed hated him specifically), and enjoy some good cinema.

Which is why, as Bella walked into work that morning, coffee in hand, she was distracted. She was distracted because she was trying to come up with a good combo. Should she do, wine, rom-com, Jess and Alice? Or beer, drama, Jake? Maybe ciders, _Super Troopers_ , everyone? She had quite a lot of homework. She could do pasta, _Gilmore Girls_ , herself. Edward always let her do homework at his place. He said she looked cute when she concentrated, and he kept her water full and the background noise light.

So she was distracted, and she (once again) ran right into her boss. This time, however, it was Edward, not Emmett.

"Well, hello there. Did I interrupt your daydream by existing?" Edward had a steadying hand on her arm, and he was smiling that crooked grin at her, the one that ceased respiratory function.

No, he fueled her daydreams by existing, but she probably shouldn't lead with that.

"Hey boss," she said. "Just doing some calculations for my evening of homework."

"What did you settle on?" he asked, then held up his finger, cutting off her reply. "Wait, wait, wait, let me guess! Mac 'n' Cheese, _Buffy_ , and Jessica!"

"On homework night?" she scoffed. "Jess will blather at length about the feminist undertones and the fact that Willow's bisexuality was erased by a restrictive media empire. She's right of course, but I really need to study."

"Grilled cheese, _Star Trek_ , and no one?"

Bella let out a humming sound, like she was considering. "No, but jot that one down, it's a good one."

"Guess I'll be surprised then," he said.

"Guess you will."

She grinned at him before heading to the break room to put away her stuff, subtly checking out Edward as he headed toward the service desk. _Wow_.

Bella stashed her (and Edward's because she'd made too much meatloaf) lunch in the fridge and walked down to Esme's office. She knocked lightly on the door and waited for Esme's soft "Come in," before entering.

"Hey Esme," Bella said, smiling at how funny she looked surrounded by paperwork with her reading glasses perched crookedly on her nose.

"Bella, dear, hello!" Esme said, looking up from her computer and beaming. She slid her glasses off her nose and into her hair, before gesturing to the seat opposite her desk.

"Uhm, Esme? If I sit there I will not be able to see you over invoice mountain."

Esme glanced down at her desk then back up at Bella, shocked. "I don't even know how that got there."

"You have to actually _file_ the invoices if you want them to go away," Bella said, smiling.

"That seems to be the case," Esme replied, shoving the stack over so that Bella could sit. "What can I do for you, dear?"

Bella shifted in the comfortable seat opposite Esme. She could do this. This was why she'd come into the office in the first place.

"Esme… how do you know if you're in love?"

Esme turned her head away from the computer so fast that Bella was sure she must have whiplash. Bella cringed.

"Why? Are you? Are you in love? Who with? Please say it's no-"

"Esme!" Bella interrupted. She didn't want to know who Esme was disapproving of, frightened that Esme might hit the nail on the head. Bella knew that this had been a risk, but she didn't want to make it any worse than it already was. "Purely hypothetical." She shrugged. "When I'm in love, you'll be the first to know, probably before me."

Esme just raised a brow and smiled slyly, like she already did. God, Bella and Edward really needed to work on being so obvious. "Well, you're asking who has to be the absolute worst person to ask. I was very lucky." Her smile softened, and Bella knew she was thinking of Carlisle. "It was love at first sight."

This part of the tale, Bella already knew. Esme was the only woman in one of the advanced economics courses that Carlisle was attending. He'd walked into the class, spotted her, and immediately took the desk beside hers, eschewing his friends in class for the pretty, young Esme Platt. He'd asked her name, and she'd asked his, and the rest, as they say, is history.

"Of course, just because we were in love doesn't mean we had the easiest time. Carlisle sacrificed a lot for me." Esme smiled wryly. "Those friends of his were not welcoming."

"What?" Bella asked. This part of the story was new, brand new.

Esme shrugged her shoulders and gave out a small sigh. "Carlisle doesn't like to talk about it, but… being with me, deciding to start this company, it ruined some of his childhood friendships."

Bella was a little gob smacked. She leaned toward Esme's desk, staring into her green eyes, trying to understand. "But… why? Everyone loves you."

"Not everyone," Esme said, with a small smile. "Carlisle was supposed to continue with his masters, become an economics professor, and marry a subservient trophy wife." She shuffled some of the mass of papers on the desk, looking for the next invoice to file. "It wasn't Carlisle's plan, or even my in-laws, it was Aro and Caius. Marcus actually didn't really care, but then again he didn't really care about anything." She flashed a smirk in Bella's direction. "I threw a fairly large wrench in that plan by existing. And when my grandparents gave us the money to start this place… well, that was the last we heard of the three of them." She looked a little sad, but only for a brief moment. "He misses them sometimes, I know. It's hard when you grow up together. But I know he doesn't regret it."

"Damn right he doesn't," Bella muttered. Esme let out a chuckle.

"I guess that's what love is, Bella. It's knowing, without a doubt, that you couldn't possibly regret any of the choices you made or people you lost that brought you to that person."

*

It was almost eleven when Emmett arrived at the service desk with Lauren, Jane, and a grumbling Seth in tow. Bella and Edward exchanged confused glances, because Edward had made the schedule, and Bella had proofed and then posted it, and they both knew very well that perpetually punctual Jane and Lauren never arrived for their shift even a minute early, and that Seth wasn't scheduled at all.

"What's up, Em?" Edward asked, assessing the trio of teammates. Seth really did look miserable.

"It's October first, man," Emmett said, cocking his head to the side and making eye contact with Bella, who didn't even wait for his quirked brow before she started bouncing on the balls of her feet. She made a low screeching sound from the back of her throat, and Edward whirled on her at the sound.

"Okay, I can read a calendar, but why exactly did the knowledge of the date turn my team lead into a tea kettle?" Bella didn't even bother acknowledging him, she just kept bouncing and squeaking, and then she threw her arms around Edward's neck and forced him to jump with her. "Whoa," he said, as his arms automatically moved around her waist, a natural reflex that made Bella's toes tingle.

Emmett chuckled, before knocking loudly on the countertop to get Bella's attention off of his cousin- no easy feat. "C'mon Bells, or I'm gonna have to file a harassment suit with H.R."

Bella looked up at Edward's face, grinning at his still-confused expression. "You gonna file a complaint?" she asked him, and he smiled at her.

"And get my best friend fired?" he asked. He glanced over at Emmett before letting Bella go somewhat reluctantly. "Not a chance," he told Emmett, who just chuckled.

Bella was experiencing a flurry of happy butterflies in her stomach. Edward had just called her his best friend. He hadn't ever done that before. Crazy as it seemed, after knowing him for a measly month and a half, she considered him her best friend too.

"Ahw," she said, patting his cheek lightly, "you're one of my best friends, too!"

Edward clasped his hand to his chest and screwed his face up into a mask of disappointment. " _One_ of?!"

"Best friend isn't a person, Edward, it's a tier."

"You stole that from Mindy Kaling," he grinned.

"A wise and noble sage to all." She nodded solemnly, as though Mindy Kaling were the Pope. In Bella's mind, she was.

"It's weirding me out to see Bellsy so chummy with management," Emmett said, grimacing.

Bella whirled on him, pointing her yellow rose clad finger at his disgusted face. "I've been chummy with you for years! I literally _live_ with management."

"Yeah, but not customer service management."

During the entirety of this exchange, Seth, Lauren, and Jane had moved behind the counter and were assisting customers and occasionally spectating.

"It's crazy, right?" Seth asked. "Edward's pretty awesome, though," he added, grinning at his manager.

"You're telling me," mumbled Jane, eyes firmly planted to Edward's backside. For God's sake, she was eighteen! He had almost a decade on her! Plus, it was really pissing Bella off.

Bella rolled her eyes and Edward snorted. _Very attractive_. "Glad I meet your standards," he said, grinning at Seth. "I still don't know why October first is such a big deal."

Bella, giddy off of the knowledge that she was Edward's best friend and the sheer joy of October first, could no longer contain herself. "It's Decorating Day!" she shouted, startling Edward and several customers.

"What in God's name is Decorating Day?"

Lauren rolled her eyes and Seth groaned, but Bella was too excited to care.

"It's the earliest time of the year where we can put up holiday decorations without Emmett complaining about it," she said, beaming. "Alice, Rose, and I go around making everything Halloween-y."

"Speaking of the Devil's Trio, your cohorts are already in the warehouse. I'm pretty sure they forced Tyler onto the forklift before he even clocked in. Which is super illegal. I probably should have stopped them, but Ali had that ' _Designing Women_ ' look in her eyes and that look terrifies me." Emmett had rounded the counter during his little speech and was now pushing Bella out and around toward the back of the store.

Bella turned to wave at Edward and her teammates, the former still looking confused and a little bit bummed out (she hoped it was because she was leaving), the latter looking bored (they'd seen this before), and headed back toward the warehouse.

When they arrived at the two-story room filled with floor-to-ceiling pallet racking, they found Rosie and Alice directing Tyler toward the high-up rack near the loading dock containing all of the holiday decorations.

"To the left, Tyler, the _left_!" Alice yelled as Tyler headed toward a box full of designer throw pillows instead of the boxes with the decorations.

"Oh, Em, can we get the Christmas ones down, too?" Bella asked, tugging on Emmett's sleeve like a five-year-old as they approached the forklift and the two women supervising.

"Bella."

"Yes."

"It's October."

"And?"

Emmett sighed. "And I suppose it will save me another trip back here with you horrifying décor monsters if he brings down both pallets."

Bella bounced over to Rosie and Alice, making another squealing sound. "Get both, Tyler," she called out to the man in the forklift, who just shook his head once before giving her the thumbs up.

When all of the boxes were down from the racking Emmett and Tyler high-tailed it out of the warehouse. They may as well have ran, for how fast they were trying to escape. The girls began digging through the decorations, pulling out the cobwebs, giant spiders, jack o' lanterns, skeletons, and assorted wall hangings.

"Okay, Rosie, you get the scissor lift and decorate the chandelier-"

"I'm going to need webs, three spiders, and a skeleton."

"Granted, also, I love it," Alice said, pointing at Rosalie's face with a gleeful smile. "I'm going to get all the walls and banisters, and Bella…" she glanced over at Bella, who was only half-listening, staring off at the Christmas boxes, and sighed, "start working on the Christmas display, you insane person."

Bella's head whipped around back to Alice, her expression slack. "I don't need to Ali, I'll help!"

"No! I can see it in your eyes, you're going to be useless to me all day."

Bella threw her arms around her tiny roommate, swaying her back and forth. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Alice just rolled her eyes and she and Rose wheeled out their treasures. Bella skipped her way over to the Christmas boxes, devising her plan as she went.

*

She rifled through the boxes until lunchtime, selecting the best pieces and organizing them into displays. Bella left her work neatly tucked into a corner of the warehouse, told Laurent to guard it with his life, and made her way to the break room. She heated up her meatloaf, grabbed two Cokes and two forks, and made her way to Edward's office. She knocked once, then opened the door and plopped down into the armchair tucked into the corner behind his desk after placing the meatloaf and one Coke in front of him.

"Jane tried to hit on me twice! How could you leave me?" he said.

"I get really into Christmas." Bella shrugged and opened her Coke.

"Bella," he said, staring her down.

"Don't say it."

"It's October."

"I know, okay!" Bella reached over and took a bite of the meatloaf, then settled back in her chair. "But, I really, _really_ love Christmas."

"I believe you, but didn't you just make fun of Esme for the same thing?" Edward said, smiling softly as he surveyed their meal. "Meatloaf, huh?"

"I had to work on a very depressing case file for class, so I stress-cooked a lot of comfort food." Bella took another bite of meatloaf and shrugged. "And yes, I did, but that's because Esme just wants me to sing karaoke carols, and no one beside her wants that."

"And by 'a lot of comfort food' you mean…"

"An entire meatloaf and mashed potatoes that I ate all of last night while you were closing." Bella scooped up more meatloaf and attempted to look contrite.

Edward clutched his hand to his chest and shook his head. "You made mashed potatoes and didn't save _any_ for your best friend? You wound me." He was taking the "best friend" thing very seriously, Bella noted with glee. He took a bite of meatloaf. "Holy crap, never mind, all is forgiven." He quickly took another bite of meatloaf and washed it down with Coke.

Bella grinned over her can and rolled her eyes. "Oh, thank you, gracious one."

"So how's decorating going?" he asked, shoveling more meatloaf into his mouth.

"Great, I almost have everything set up for me to make the display." Bella took another sip of her drink and propped her foot up on the edge of Edward's desk.

"If you make the display, how are you going to put it in the store?"

"Everything's on wheels. During the month of December I move everything around once a week."

Edward gaped at her, his meatloaf sliding off his fork and back into the container. "Are you aware that you're certifiable?"

"Are you aware that I _really_ love Christmas?" Bella flicked her condensation at him and he grinned.

"I'm taking you home, right?" he asked, reclaiming his fallen meatloaf.

"Yes, please, and then please take me to _your_ home, because I really do need to do homework." Bella took another bite.

"Your wish is my command, Bells."

Bella's vision tunneled a bit. "Promise?"

Edward looked over at her, grinned his crooked grin, and shoved her foot off the desk. "Always." He reached out and dragged the armchair toward him, so that she could better see his computer screen. "Now shut up, because I've been dying to watch this all day."

He pulled up the security camera feed then, and cued up several times throughout the day, for her to watch what she'd missed during the morning. They spent the rest of the lunch hour watching Jane drop a box of receipts, a customer's moustache fall entirely off of his face, and an old woman falling asleep on one of the antique couches. He also had a great clip of Rosie and Ali on the scissor lift trying to drape webs on the chandelier.

"Hey Edward," she said, in between clips.

"Yeah," he answered, his voice still full of laughter.

"Do you regret… meeting me at the bar?" she asked, keeping her eyes locked on the screen.

She felt his fingers on her chin then, and turned her face so that her eyes met his. His green eyes were shining, and his expression was the most serious she'd ever seen it.

"Not even for a second." He swallowed. "You?"

"No. Never."

"Okay then," he said, returning his eyes to the screen, a small smile on his lips. Bella smiled at his profile, and then turned back to watch Alice drop a spider from twenty feet in the air.

*

 **A/N: I know, I know, how can I ask for reviews when I kept you hanging so long? Like this: Please review!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**A/N: So it turns out that having two jobs and going to school is stressful and time-consuming. Go figure, right? In any case, I'm very sorry for the infrequency in updates, and can only hope that readers like this little ditty enough to stick with it. I know I will. Have some fun with Mr. Masen today, he's feeling very emotional.**

 **Disclaimer: I still have my group chat and my Twilight book club and I'm still writing and working hard but it definitely didn't turn me into Stephenie Meyer.**

*

Edward was sitting in his office when five o clock rolled around. He was working on the schedule, with only minimal swearing involved. He checked the time, logged out of his computer and went to retrieve Bella from the break room.

Only she wasn't in the break room.

He sighed deeply, knowing that he would have to venture out into the den of wolves and make his way to the warehouse to go retrieve her. It wasn't like he could leave her here to decorate all night. She would definitely enjoy that, he knew, but she would be upset that she didn't finish her homework. So he snagged his jacket off a hook, pocketed his keys and wallet, and headed back onto the floor.

Where he was immediately accosted.

"Hey, boss, since I came in today-"

"Which Emmett asked you to do."

"Yeah, but since I did, can I have next Friday? There's a party I'm dying to hit." Seth had his hands clasped in front of him and was following Edward on his path toward the warehouse.

Edward shook his head and let out a low whistle. Since becoming the customer service manager, he'd been exposed to far too many instances of emotional bribery like this. He couldn't stand the begging. And saying no to Seth, who was like a little brother to the entire store? He hadn't quite managed to master that. Bella had tried to help him, but had declared it a lost cause after Edward had worked one of Seth's shifts in his place when he couldn't get anyone else to cover. Bella had said that it seemed like blatant favoritism, but Edward had argued that Seth was just the only one to ask. He'd also looked at her like she was crazy for suggesting that in any universe his blatant favoritism would be directed at _Seth_ when _Bella_ was right there.

"I'll see what I can do, Seth."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, boss!" He headed back toward the service counter, pointing back at Edward with purpose. "You will not regret this!"

"Try again."

"You will not regret this forever!"

"Better."

Edward continued on his way toward the warehouse, and was stopped once again, this time by Alice. Since becoming Bella's friend, Edward had also been exposed to far too many instances of his cousin exploiting their relationship. Not for nefarious purposes, of course, and she never blackmailed him, Alice was just _very_ aware of the fact that anything that made Bella happy would be a priority for Edward.

"Cuz!" she said, voice dripping with false innocence. Oh no.

"Ali… what do you need?"

"It's not so much a need as a want." She was staring up at him with those big green eyes of hers, the color they shared with Esme and his own mother, and he knew he was going to cave.

He kept walking toward the warehouse, gesturing for Alice to follow. "What is it, Ali?"

"I'm planning a Halloween party, very small, just a few of us, and I was wondering if we could have it at your place?" She also clasped her hands in front of her, and poked her lip out in a pout. Was there some sort of class they all took to learn that?

Edward shot Alice a wry smirk. "And we can't do this at your apartment _because_?" he asked.

Alice pouted her lip out even further. "Bella can leave early to study back at our place if we have it at yours. She doesn't want to have to clean up or intrude on you when she needs to sleep." Alice dropped her hands. "Not that either of you would mind. And _I'm_ going to clean up."

Edward slapped his hand to his forehead. "I'm going to regret this."

"No!"

"Try again."

"A little! But your costume will be fabulous, I've been working on it for a week already." She jumped up and down a few times and then started to head back to her racks. "Thanks, cuz!"

"You're welcome!" he called after her, never removing his hand from his face. "Goddamn, I'm a pushover," he grumbled to himself.

And then, he entered the warehouse.

And his jaw dropped.

He'd walked into Santa's Village.

There were trees and trains and candy canes and ornaments and snowflakes and God, the _lights_. In the middle of it all stood Bella, bathed in the glow of the Christmas lights, hanging one last ornament on a massive twelve foot tree with one hand, and directing warehouse workers rolling oversized trees and decorations toward an empty corner with the other. She was breathtaking in the golden-red-green wash of light, the colors doing beautiful things to her skin and hair. She had this almost unconscious smile on her face, and her eyes were bright with joy and reflected lights.

If she looked like this the entirety of December, he was dead meat.

"Laurent! Marcus! Please be extra careful with the train! It has to work come Thanksgiving!" she said to two burly men moving the large locomotive across the warehouse floor. Laurent smiled at her and nodded, and Marcus, true to form, maintained the emotionless expression he wore on a near-constant basis. Edward had once seen him emote, but it was because Esme had joked about getting him a girlfriend, and the emotion was anxious dismissal.

"Yes, boss," Laurent said, sending Bella a wink. She giggled, and Edward tried very hard not to be jealous. For one thing, he had no claim on Bella and even if he did, Laurent was just like that. For another thing, it was absolutely ridiculous to be jealous that he hadn't been the one to make her giggle. It made no sense, but here he was. For yet another thing, Edward was well aware that Laurent was hooking up with Jessica.

"I'm not your boss, bud, but I'll be sure to pass that wink on to Esme," Bella said, shooting Laurent a smirk.

Laurent laughed as he dragged the locomotive into the corner. "I'll do that myself, thank you!"

"And she'll love it." Bella finally looked up, then, as the ornament was put in the perfect place, and she stood back to admire the effect. "Edward," she said, gleefully, when she saw him standing at the warehouse entrance. "Time to head home already?"

Edward was still slack-jawed, as he'd been since he entered the warehouse. He snapped his mouth shut. "You did this?" he asked.

"Yes."

"In eight hours?"

"Yes.

"Without the aid of a methamphetamine?" he asked, gazing past her to the overstuffed corner full of Christmas decorations.

"Does a trente iced coffee with four shots count?" she asked, scrunching up her face adorably.

"Depends on what the shots were of."

"So far as I can tell, it was espresso." She tucked her left arm into the crook of his elbow, and patted his forearm with her hand. He looked down at it, eyes drawn immediately to the small yellow roses adorning her index finger. Edward's lips turned up involuntarily at the sight of it. "Come on, I'm making manicotti." She started dragging him back towards the break room.

"Manicotti?"

"And garlic bread," she said, smiling up at him and waving back to the warehouse workers as they made it to the floor.

They strolled through the aisles arm in arm, discussing Bella's day of decorating and the finer points of Italian food.

*

"Do we need asiago?" Edward called out to Bella from his position in front of the cheeses. They were at the local Safeway, getting the ingredients for Bella's manicotti plans.

Bella appeared from around the corner, a package of flat pasta in her hands. "Ricotta, Edward, we need ricotta. You already have mozzarella and parmesan at your place." She dropped the pasta into the basket Edward was carrying and pointed at the correct dairy products.

"I do?"

"Unless you had a cheese fest without me, then yes, you do." Bella smirked as Edward dropped the cheese into the basket.

"You have _got_ to stop stocking my fridge," he said, giving Bella an exasperated look. "Kind of undercuts the 'me taking care of you' thing I'm trying to do."

Bella giggled. "As nice as it might be to have you take care of me, we're going Dutch for the time being. I like to take care of you, too." She steered him away from the cheeses toward the register. "Now, let's get the heck out of here and get cooking. I don't want to be doing homework until two in the morning."

They rounded the corner of the cereal aisle, and abruptly stopped. There was a couple planted in the middle of the aisle, kissing. Kissing was probably too light a term, though. They weren't sharing a quick kiss over the Lucky Charms. They were doing what Edward's mother would call necking.

"Oh. My. God." Bella was staring, mouth agape at the couple, but she didn't look shocked. She looked… disgusted? "I can't escape you two anywhere!" she shouted.

The couple broke apart with a strange suctioning sound, and turned to look at Bella and Edward. The woman grinned, and the man rolled his eyes.

The woman tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder, and gave Bella a wink. "Hey, Bella! Fancy seeing you in the Safeway," she said, taking the man by the hand and leading him over to Bella, before letting him go to give Bella what appeared to be an incredibly tight hug.

"Kate," she squeaked out, her voice muffled by the ironclad grip of the woman holding her, "please… let go."

"Hey, uh," Edward started, a little unsure of how to approach. "Can you put my friend down? She's small enough without being compressed." He reached around Bella's back and started to pry off the woman's arms. She let go before he could finish, though.

The woman eyed Edward up and down, cocked an eyebrow, and turned to Bella. "Bells," she said, keeping her brow reaching for the heavens.

Bella groaned. "Kate, don't start."

"Bella."

"Kate." Bella crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes.

Kate glanced back over at Edward, and a huge grin took over her face.

"Come work at my family's firm," Kate said, turning her megawatt smile onto Bella. "You can quit your retail gig, and begin doing unspeakable things to this ma-"

"Hi! I'm Garrett," her male companion said, extending a hand to Edward. Edward shook, gratefully. He could feel his ears starting to burn.

"Edward Masen," he said. "Nice to meet you."

The girls had studiously ignored them.

"I like my retail gig, Kate." Bella's arms crossed over her chest and she cocked her head to one side. "And to be frank, your father scares the bejeezus out of me."

Kate grinned, and it was somehow all canine. "Okay fine, but you have to admit there would be… benefits." She turned her lupine smile onto Edward, then, and he felt very much like a chicken cutlet. "Bella, it's rude not to introduce people," she said, tossing Bella a quick wink.

Bella sighed like the burden of introducing Edward to this woman was physically weighing her down. "Edward Masen, Kate Denali. Kate, this is Edward. Try not to scare him off, he is a very dear friend." Edward smiled reflexively at her words, and Kate's eyebrows shot skyward once again.

"Nice to meet you, Kate," Edward said, extending his hand. Kate shook it with a firm grip, and Edward thought she must have touched something woolen recently, because her hand was so static-y it shocked him. He tried not to let his surprise show on his face, certain that showing any weakness to Kate would be like a salmon jumping directly into the mouth of a grizzly bear. Her brows slowly lowered as she smiled warmly at him, and she shot Bella another meaningful glance, although Edward couldn't quite decipher what meaning it was full of.

"It's good to finally put a name to the face. Bella refused to send me a photo-"

"Because that's _weird_!" Bella interjected.

"-but she talks about you or giggles at her phone almost constantly, and I've been dying to meet the man behind the myth." Kate grinned over at Bella who was tomato-red. Bella slapped her hand onto her forehead and sighed.

"I'm going to kill you."

"Gotta catch me first."

"So how do you all know each other?" Edward asked, desperate to change the subject from his apparent mythical nature. He could tell that it was making Bella uncomfortable. And he didn't want to seem clingy or possessive, but Bella had honestly spent most of her free time with him over the last month or so, and he'd never met or heard of Kate and Garrett.

"Law school," Garrett said, scratching his head and reaching for a box of Cocoa Pebbles. In Edward's opinion, he looked more like an Art History major than a lawyer, but who was he to judge? Edward mainly wore t-shirts with bands on them and he had a master's in communications. Looks could be deceiving.

"We had all of our lower level classes together," Kate said. "We were in the same study group, and then Miss Philanthropy over here picked Family Law as her specialty, leaving Garrett and I stranded in Business Law alone."

"One," Bella started, lifting fingers to tick off of her list, "philanthropy is not a dirty word, Kate. Two, you are not alone, you have each other. _I_ am alone. Three, you act like we don't still meet up once a week to study, which we do." So that's where she was so late on Thursday nights. She turned to Edward. "Kate and Garrett are planning to be the entire legal department for Kate's family's electrical engineering firm. Her father was pretty upset about it, considering that Kate could rewire and design new systems better than half of his employees by age twelve." She smirked over at Kate, obviously proud of her friend.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yes, and I'm quite tired of giving everyone I meet static shocks and spending hours trapped and surrounded by wires. I'd much rather surround myself with paper and arguments." The shock she'd given Edward made much more sense now.

"No one ever gives your father any trouble!"

"Precisely. I won't have to do anything. I'll be sitting in my office planning my wedding and subsequent vacations." Kate grinned.

"Honey, I haven't even proposed yet," Garrett said distractedly, reaching over Kate's shoulder for a box of Reese's Puffs. The man liked his sugar cereal, that was for sure.

"Technicality," Kate said, waving her hand through the air as though dismissing Garrett's comment. Clearly this subject was a well-worn one, and not a touchy subject at all. They discussed it like they were discussing the weather.

Bella rolled her eyes and started to edge her way around the couple. "Well, this has been fun; see you guys Thursday," she said, making eye contact with Edward that clearly meant _Let's go, let's go, let's go!_

"Bye Bella!" Garrett said, even as Kate snatched up Bella's arm, preventing her escape.

"Not so fast, you never told me your Halloween plans last week. It's the last year of school, we have to go all out!" Kate was giving Bella a version of the puppy-dog eyes, except they were more like Doberman eyes. Menacing and coercive.

Bella heaved another heavy sigh, and threw her hands up before they slapped back down noisily to her sides. "Ali's throwing a party. You know, my roommate? I have to attend that, and then we all have class in the morning, so I'm dipping out early."

"My God, you're so responsible," Kate said, sounding slightly disgusted. "Fine," she continued, "we're in."

"What a lovely invitation you've just extended yourself." Bella rolled her eyes.

"And Garrett, don't forget Garrett," Kate said, smirking.

"Like I could," Bella said, gesturing over to the tall man. "Now, we really have to go, Kate!" Bella snagged Edward's arm and started pulling him up the aisle toward the registers. "As you were!"

Kate laughed and grabbed Garrett by the collar, taking Bella's order literally. Edward quickly turned away as their lips met once again. One time seeing that was enough for the week. Or the month. Or his lifetime.

*

Turns out, manicotti is one of the many things Bella is excellent at making, as was meatloaf, and pot roast, and chicken kiev, and his arteries clog, and his heartrate increase.

"Whoa," Edward said, taking another large bite.

"Oh stuff it," Bella said, waving her hand in dismissal. "It's pretty hard to mess up pasta and cheese."

"No it isn't," Edward countered, pointing at her with his fork. "Do you know how many times I burned boxed macaroni and cheese back in undergrad?" He quirked up an eyebrow at her. "It was enough that I was worried they'd kick me out of college for being an idiot." He took another bite, overstuffing his mouth with the marinara-soaked concoction.

Bella giggled. "You're going to choke, oh slayer of macaroni." Edward rolled his eyes and kept eating.

"How'd you get to be such a great cook? It doesn't really have anything to do with the law. Unless you count the law of thermodynamics." Edward rested his head on his hand as he waited for her response. His mother would be horrified to see him with his elbow on the table, and in the presence of a lady, no less.

Edward, however, couldn't find it in him to care when Bella smiled softly with a faraway look in her eyes that he was beginning to recognize. This story would include her parents. Bella let out a small sigh. "Well," she began, "my mother is an… inventive cook." Her smile broadened. "Most of her inventions are inedible, so I started learning early on that if we were going to eat something that didn't get delivered to our house covered in grease and cheese, I would have to make it."

Edward's brow furrowed involuntarily. "Seems a little unfair."

"I felt that way too, for a while," Bella said, still smiling, "but there was so much that my mother _could_ do, _could_ teach to me, that doing this thing for her was alright."

"But weren't you always the one doing the adult things?" Edward was confused. A few weeks back Bella had told him that she'd known how to pay a bill since age ten, and how to grocery shop from twelve. It seemed as though Bella took care of her mother.

Bella took a sip of her soda and shrugged. "For a long time, I thought that way. I resented the fact that I grew up so fast." Her face scrunched a little, as though she was struggling to find the right words. "But, just because I did those things, didn't make me older. I was still a kid. Sure, I could cook, and I made sure she remembered the bills, and that we made it to a grocer at least twice a month, but Mom…" She beamed, and Edward could see that her nose was a little red, and her eyes were a little glassy. "Mom was the _fun_. Mom made me have adventure, and creativity, and passion. Her constant shifting from phase to phase just meant that I now know how to weave a basket, make a friendship bracelet, rudimentary pottery, oil painting on canvas, ride mountain bikes, scuba dive. She never gave me an idea that I couldn't do whatever I wanted. She got me my first library card. When I first became interested in law, she bought every great lawyer movie in cinema history. Her slight flightiness prepared me to take on the world, logistically, but she made me believe that I could take it on creatively, too." Bella took a second to swallow, hard, and watched as her napkin wrung round and round in her hands. She was afraid he wouldn't understand, he could tell. She was worried that Edward would judge her mother. "I'm not jaded, and I'm not bitter, and I still believe that one person can change the world, and that people are all, inherently, good." She took another sip of soda, and sniffled once. "Mom was a huge part of that." She giggled. "And all Charlie could cook was fish, and to be frank, you can only eat fish fry so many times before you demand run of the kitchen. That was my main chore at Charlie's place, and he took care of almost everything else."

"You miss them," Edward said, smiling sadly at her.

Bella squeezed her lips together. "Very much."

Edward reached over and stroked the back of her hand where it lay on the table with his index finger. He wiggled the rose ring on her index finger once, causing her to giggle again.

"It's easier with Charlie," she said. "He's close. I only see Mom a few times a year." She ran her free hand through her hair and reached for her glass again.

Edward just nodded, knowing that there was no way for him to fix this for her, and desperately wishing he could. Sometimes, he knew, a person just needed a friend to talk it out with.

"You know," she said softly. "She would just _love_ you." And she laughed, loudly, at some private joke all her own.

Edward smiled. "I'd love her too."

"How do you know?"

"You're you. And she was part of that."

Bella blushed deeply, and Edward grinned. He loved making Bella blush. He was starting to (he reasoned with himself that he was just starting, because he couldn't rationalize saying he was fully in love after knowing her for a month and a half) fall more and more in love with everything about her. Her reactions to him were a personal favorite, but he loved the way her nose scrunched when she laughed, and the little wrinkle between her brow when she concentrated, and the flames in her eyes when she argued or railed about something. Her passion for social work, and her desire to better the world, and the way she smiled when she spoke about Esme, and the deep abiding respect she had for Emmett and Rosalie as parents, and her devotion to her team, and even the disgustedly angry look she had on her face when they happened upon Garrett and Kate earlier.

There wasn't anything he wasn't fascinated by, anything he thought required no further study. If her brow twitched just so, what did it mean? Exactly how many smiles did she have? He'd been keeping count and he was up to six. When she looked at him like that, blushing, did she want to kiss him? Did she want him to kiss her? He wanted to kiss her again, more than anything. Was that what she still wanted? Edward thought it was, because sometimes, like now, when she looked at him her eyes glassed over and she seemed very far away. He couldn't possibly be sure that was why, though. He may have been experiencing a very powerful form of wishful thinking.

Edward knew he could spend his entire life trying to figure out what was going on in her head, and the idea scared him. He'd known, from the first moment she sat next to him, with her tequila and her tight jeans, that he was done for. If he was being honest with himself, he was already imagining their children and the life they could share.

But he wasn't being honest.

He was being practical, and Edward was not quite yet the kind of man that Bella deserved. She deserved the best, and he was only fair-to-middling at the moment. And in his never-ending quest to be the best for her, Edward knew that kissing Bella was out of the question for the time being. He'd just have to learn exactly what that look on her face meant, and exactly how many smiles, and just how much he was willing to sacrifice first.

So he got up, and he took their plates to the sink, and he started to clean as Bella headed over to the entertainment center. He watched her over the breakfast bar as she went to the exact right cabinet and the exact right shelf to find what she wanted on the first try. He watched as she expertly worked his television and Blu-Ray remotes, and turned on a favorite of theirs, _Gilmore Girls_ , for background noise as Bella did her homework and Edward updated his resume and researched local advertising firms.

Bella didn't know that's what he was doing. She thought he was messing around playing games or reading ridiculous listicles. The plan had always been to find himself a job that required his degree. And he loved working for Carlisle and Esme more than he'd ever hoped to, but he couldn't let Bella quit her job there, not before she was ready, and certainly not for him. So every night, after dinner and before Bella ditched her homework to watch whatever movie or show they'd put on, Edward was trying to find a new job.

That was how Edward felt he could be the best for Bella. Finding himself a career, and taking the obstacle away for her, easing her mind and being the man she deserved.

"Edward?"

He glanced up from the dishes to see Bella on the couch, with his laptop open on her lap.

 _Shit._

Edward had left his resume open on the laptop after ditching it for dinner. "Why do you have that?" he asked, his voice a bit strangled as he started to panic.

"I forgot mine downstairs and was going to check a fact," she said, matter-of-factly. "What is this?" Bella asked, her brow furrowed as she scanned the page.

Edward snatched a dish towel off the counter and dried his hands as he exited the kitchen. "Well. Uhm," he broke off, unable to think of anything he could tell her. What was he going to say? "I'm quitting my job for you"? "I'm wretchedly in love with you"? "I'm trying to deserve you, but I'm pretty sure it's impossible"? Or the worst: "I was making a very big decision that affected myself, my family, and my best friend and I wasn't planning on telling any of you about it"?

Bella glanced up at him, brow still furrowed. "Are you trying to find a new job?"

"Maybe."

"Why?" Bella shook her head. "I know that this, that advertising and P.R., still remind you of Chicago, I know that it all still stings." She gestured to the laptop, "Why would you want to leave something that makes you forget that time, that woman? Why would you want to leave what's making you happy?" She sounded so confused, so hurt, that Edward recoiled a bit.

Edward sighed. "I love working where I do, with the people that I work with," Edward started, "Bella, you know that. But we both know that _the work_ isn't what makes me happy, isn't what makes me forget." He sat on the very edge of the couch, far enough away that he wouldn't intrude on her, but close enough to reach out.

"Then why would you want to limit our time together? Don't you like working with your best friend?" Bella was staring at her hands on the keys of the laptop.

Edward leaned forward and took her hand off the laptop before clasping it with his own, entwining their fingers. Her hand fit his, so well, so perfect, he never wanted to let go.

"I _love_ working with my best friend. I want my best friend to be in my life forever." Her eyes shot up to his, and one corner of her mouth lifted involuntarily. "I have plans for it."

"You do, huh?" she asked, her smile growing just a fraction. "Pray tell, what do these plans involve?"

"You and me, and nothing else. No obstacles." Edward was really laying himself out here, but he couldn't seem to keep the words in. Not when he was discovering a seventh smile. "In my plans, that's what you want too." He let his eyes lock on hers, probing, searching the deep brown for hints or clues. When he didn't seem to find any, he stared instead at their hands, clutching each other.

He heard Bella take a deep breath.

"So," she said, and Edward looked up to find her perusing his resume once more. "Got any leads? Your resume could use some proofing, and lucky for you I minored in literature for undergrad." She started tapping on keys, making adjustments to the page. She glanced over at him, out of the corner of her eyes, and bit down on her bottom lip.

It looked like, just once, everything might go according to his plan.

*

 **A/N: Let me know how you're feeling! Halloween party next, some fluffy fall fun afterwards!**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**A/N: This is a mega-long chapter, and I'd apologize, but I'm not actually sorry. Lots of stuff had to happen at this Halloween party. To answer a review question I got, allow me to inform you all that you can get your mobile order in the drive thru at Starbucks. It is magical.**

 **This one's for my twilight sisters, who encourage me to write, and for sarae32, who's been requesting this for a while. Hope you love it!**

 **Disclaimer: I own several piles of homework sitting undone as I write this instead, but I still do not own Twilight.**

*

Bella was going to murder Alice.

"Ali!" She was staring into the mirror with disgust, absolutely horrified by her own reflection.

Alice trotted into Bella's room, completely confident in her sky-high disco boots. Her sequined mini-dress shimmered in the light, and her makeup was done in bold colors and lines. She had chunky jewelry on, and her short hair was styled in a feathered blowout. In short, she looked amazing. Which just made Bella even more determined to kill her.

"What's u- oh my _God_ , you look _fab_!" Alice squealed, her voice hitting that annoyingly high pitch that closely resembled a dog whistle.

Bella scowled. "I look insane."

Alice scoffed and waved her hand dismissively, moving to pick up a golden headband from Bella's bed. "It looks gorgeous, Bells. You're basically royal, you know." Alice winked at Bella's reflection in the mirror. "I just have to do your hair and makeup." She led Bella to the bathroom, and sat her down on a small stool Alice kept tucked under the counter for the occasions where she decided to torture Bella with her various beauty tools.

"Alice?" Bella asked quietly, as her roommate wrapped a lock of Bella's hair around the barrel of a curling iron.

Alice was solely focused on the task at hand, her concentration never wavering from her hands on the hot poker. "Hmm?"

Bella felt like an idiot asking this. She didn't need any reassurance, she knew how Edward felt. At least, she thought she did. He was looking for another job, despite the high level of ick factor he still felt after Chicago, for her. That had to mean something, didn't it?

"Do you think…" Bella sucked in a deep breath, and her words came out on a gust, "Do you think Edward will like this?"

Alice giggled. And maybe she snorted once or twice, but it would be unmannerly to mention. "Allow me to paint you a picture, Bells," she said, when she was done with her giggles.

Bella, nervousness twisting her stomach and her friend still twisting her hair, nodded ever so slightly, careful not to pull on the curling iron.

"Edward, as a kid back in Chicago, was absolutely _obsessed_ with this stuff. Honestly, he carried any books he could find on the subject around, and spouted off crazy amounts of trivia about it." Alice wrapped another lock of Bella's hair, and grinned wide. "And," she giggled one final time, "he had a favorite."

Bella smiled softly. Alice was being a truly good sport about her best friend being so crazily into her cousin. She was always up for a good gossip about everything he'd done that day, or analyzing his moods. Alice was a stalwart supporter, and she sometimes seemed more excited to get them together than Bella was (and Bella was pretty damn excited. Ready-to-quit-her-job excited.) But she knew that was a ridiculous concept. Bella couldn't quit until she was sure.

Which had to mean Edward was sure, right?

She gnawed on her lip as Alice finished her hair and moved on to war paint.

"Would you please take that out of there so I can put some lip balm on it?" Alice asked, waving the lip balm around to prove her point.

Bella blinked a few times, surfacing from her thoughts.

Alice sighed as she applied the lip balm. "I'd love to do some crazy makeup for this but Edward always used to harp on about the goddesses' 'natural beauty'." She did air quotes and rolled her eyes before grabbing a small rounded brush. "But highlighter? That's a must." She brushed the powder over the tops of Bella's cheekbones. "There's a reason they're called 'glowing goddesses'," she said, as she used the very tip of her finger to apply some of the powder to the tip of Bella's nose. She added a bit more to the bridge of Bella's nose, before spraying Bella's face with a fine mist of setting spray. Her delicate fingers wove the headband through Bella's now-curly hair, wrapping a few pieces around the band and making minor adjustments to her hair's shape.

Alice smiled her "I'm a genius" smile, and held her hand in front of Bella's eyes as she led her back to Bella's bedroom to stand in front of the full-length mirror.

She whipped her hand away, and Bella laughed at how ridiculous her friend was being. And then her eyes focused.

Bella was aware that she wasn't difficult to look at. She lacked Alice and Jessica's level of self-confidence, but she knew that she was at least not ugly.

Alice had made her feel beautiful.

She had hated this costume concept, thought that it was dumb, but the completed look was… wonderful. The cream colored fabric of the dress was draped in a "V" across her chest, and the way it was wrapped caused it to fall open in the front, revealing one of her strappy sandals and more than her usual amount of leg. Off-shoulder sleeves draped along her upper arms, and a golden belt woven with golden flowers encircled her waist. The matching floral headband wound through her hair, and Alice had embroidered golden flowers along the fabric of the dress, dispersed near her waist and congregating along the hem. Whatever Alice had spread across her cheekbones and collarbones shimmered in the light, giving her an ethereal glow.

Alice, beaming behind her, piped up, "What's the verdict, Queen Persephone?"

Bella stared in shock at Alice through the mirror, shaking her head once. "Thank you," she said, a little breathless. "I love it."

"Knew you would," Alice said, giving Bella's shoulder a quick squeeze. "Now, come upstairs with me to set this shindig up!"

They each grabbed one of the several boxes of supplies and made their way up to Edward's apartment, huffing and puffing as they went.

Alice knocked by kicking the door. "It's open!" came a muffled reply. Edward was probably getting ready. Bella tried very hard not to think about Edward getting dressed. The girls entered the apartment and set their supplies in the kitchen.

"Okay, I'm going for round two," Bella said, heading for the door.

"I'll start setting up!" Alice was already unpacking decorations, wielding double-sided tape menacingly. "I'll send Edward to help you when he comes out of his bedroom."

Bella flashed a thumbs-up and started to head back down to the apartment.

Her mind wandered as she started gathering up the Halloween treats she'd made for the party.

Would Edward like her costume? Alice had said he was obsessed with Greek mythology earlier, but what if she wasn't pretty enough to be Persephone? She knew she looked great, but she still worried. And what was with Edward, anyway? He was always so kind to her, and he always took care of her, and it felt like he was into her. But except for all of the casual touching, he kept his cards close to his chest. He never talked about how he was feeling about her, and he hadn't mentioned anything about getting a new job since the first, and that was almost a month ago now. Maybe he'd changed his mind?

What if he didn't want her anymore? Could she stand it if he was in her life, for good, but not in the way she desperately wanted him to be? She couldn't bear to not have him in her life, that was for sure. He'd worked his way right into her heart and built a home there. Was it selfish of her to want all of him for herself? Shouldn't she just be grateful to have him as her friend? He was such an excellent friend, too, she shouldn't ask for more. What if she got more and then lost all? It wasn't something she could even consider.

Edward could have stopped liking her, but she knew she loved him. She refused to admit to herself that she was _in_ love with him. That would firmly plant her in the realm of Crazy-Town, and she wasn't quite ready to change her address yet. The mayor of Crazy-Town had written her a letter last week informing her that they were getting her new residence set up, though, so she knew it was only a matter of time. Being in love with Edward was too hard. If she was in love with Edward, she couldn't have only one. She'd have to have him all, consequences be damned. It would mean she'd have to quit her job, and disappoint Emmett, and Esme, and Carlisle, and Rose.

She'd have to tell Angela.

She couldn't imagine telling Angela about her romance (if that was even what it was) with their boss. It just seemed so _wrong_. How could she claim to love him to her face? How could she justify herself to one of her closest friends, after what she went through? How could she tell her that she'd lied for months and hidden away what she felt? How would Angela ever trust her again? She couldn't lose Angela. And Maggie, and Ben. She needed her calm, quiet presence.

She had to take a risk. She had to tell her now. Even if nothing ever happened with Edward, even if he'd stopped liking her, even if he moved back to Chicago and got married tomorrow, she would never forgive herself if she lost Angela for this. She could no longer justify not telling Angela how she felt about Edward. At first, when it might not be anything, it was easy for Bella to tell herself that it wasn't important. But now, she spent all of her free time with Edward, and her free mind-space was occupied with thinking about Edward, and she daydreamed in class about kissing Edward, and it was going to impact her life forever. Whatever happened, she couldn't be the same. And Angela was perceptive. She wasn't an idiot, and Bella knew that she was going to figure it out eventually.

Bella had to tell Angela. Everything.

Having made the decision, Bella immediately relaxed. The hard part was over. She just had to follow through now, and it would be hard, but it had to be done. Agonizing over what could be was much worse than just finding out. So Bella would just find out. She felt a smile curve along her lips as she packed the cupcakes and a sense of peace settled over her.

She looked up as she heard the door open.

And Luke Danes, the owner of Luke's Diner in Star Hollow, walked into her apartment.

Only it was much better, because Luke Danes was Edward.

He was adjusting his blue baseball cap as he walked in, so he didn't see her gaping at him, for which she was grateful. She quickly ducked back to her cupcakes, but she couldn't keep that damn giddy smile off her face. Alice did this on purpose. She _knew_ that Luke Danes was Bella's favorite guy. Sure, Jon Snow was cool, and Darcy was eloquent, and Heathcliff was tragic, and Spike was sexy, and Chandler was funny, and Finn was brave, but Luke? Luke loved with his entire being. Everything he did, he did with the goal of making people happy. Sure, he was a grump about it, but he enjoyed providing for others. And that, for Bella, sealed him in as her one true fictional love.

And Alice stuck her maybe one true real life love into one of his outfits.

So she was pretty happy.

"Holy shit, the Goddess of Spring made cupcakes," Edward said, his voice sounding a bit strained. Bella chanced a look up at him, and immediately regretted it. He was staring at her so intensely she thought she was going to burst into flame. Bella had never heard Edward curse so dramatically. "Fuck it," he said, continuing to add to Bella's shock, "if you're the Queen of the Underworld, then I'm going to Hell anyway."

He crossed the room in three hurried strides and took her face in his hands, ever so gently, a direct contrast to his lips, which crashed into hers like a lifeboat dashing itself on the rocks. Bella had been drowning, slipping into a never-ending tide of her thoughts and worries and she was finally surfacing. He was insistent, taking from her, but not pushy, and she was giving, giving, giving, and she felt like a bottomless well, she'd give until her heart stopped. His hands moved from her face downward, one resting at the back of her neck and the other settling into the small of her back, and suddenly she was flush against him and she gripped onto him, desperate for balance. She had one fist in his flannel shirt and the other in his hair, knocking the cap to the ground.

She was unsure how long that moment lasted, because she could have died in it and she'd have no reference to measure against, because this had to be Heaven. And her questions disappeared, because of course Edward liked her, he was kissing her like his life depended on it. Her head knew instinctively which way to turn with his, and she knew exactly how to move, and she felt her stomach tightening and her toes going numb and she'd never been kissed this thoroughly in her life.

She'd kissed him back at the bar. This was just fair play, in Bella's opinion, for him to kiss her. His arms tightened their grip, pulling her impossibly closer, and Bella sighed, a small contented noise escaping against Edward's lips. He growled and moved his other hand to her back, circling her waist completely, seemingly unwilling to let her go. His lips trailed across her cheek, down her neck and his hair tickled her chin as he moved across her shimmering collarbones toward the other side. Bella wasn't sure what noise she made in that moment, only that Edward took it as encouragement and returned to her lips, softer now, taking his time. His lips were soft and gentle, moving with hers in perfect tandem, and Bella felt like her heart was singing. Her hand slipped from his hair to his lapel, pulling him closer, assuring herself that this was real.

And then, as soon as it started, it stopped.

Edward tore himself away from her, and he set her down, and he backed up several steps.

Bella, completely dazed, traveled with him, her hands still balled into his flannel. Edward placed his hands on her shoulders, gently guiding her to arms length away, before his hands hastily left her shoulders and fisted into his hair.

"Hey how'd you know I was dressed as Persephone?" Bella asked, grinning and still a little buzzed off the kiss.

Edward decided to ignore this completely.

"Shit, Bella I'm so sorry!" he said, his voice panicky.

Bella, from her happy Edward cloud, crashed immediately down to Earth. "I'm sorry, what?" Bella couldn't think of anything they had to be sorry for.

Except for the fact that they'd just broken the employee contract.

And that she'd now have even more to explain to Angela.

But who cared; he'd kissed her!

Edward still liked her! Edward still found her kissable!

"I didn't ask you first, I just attacked you! And, God, I just broke my contract, Emmett can fire me- Emmett would _kill_ me if he found out about- that was the least respectful way I could have treated you!" Edward was pacing now, reminding her of that first day of work, when he'd paced through the bookshelves. She really had a pacing effect on him. "How could I treat you like that? How could I do that to you, of all people? The person I care about the most in my life, and I maul her like an animal!"

"The person you care about most?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Bella, you know I love you." Edward was still pacing in front of her, and seemed completely unaware that she'd frozen on the spot. She wasn't even sure she was breathing.

She _hadn't_ known _that_.

She loved Edward too, she knew that. But she hadn't thought that he would love her. She was his best friend, but he'd only been in town for two months. Of course she was his best friend, he'd barely met anyone else! It wasn't like he was flush with opportunities to make new connections when Bella was occupying all of his time. She had reasoned with herself that his interest in her was survival-based. She'd ingratiated herself into his life: she fed him, she helped him shop, she'd expanded his social circle. He was invested in her because it was essentially investing in himself.

He couldn't possibly love her like she loved him.

Except his face now was full of sincerity. He was so distracted that he couldn't possibly be lying. Still he paced, oblivious to Bella's internal epiphany. "Why did I do that? Why am I so determined to make everything worse? Why did I ever even think I could become someone good enough for y-"

Bella slapped her hand over his mouth. She was tired of self-deprecating Edward, and she wanted her doofus Edward back. Bella had wanted to shut his mouth with her mouth, but he was already freaking out enough for both of them. No need to add to the pile.

"Do not speak that way about the people I love. Yourself included. Ever," Bella said, keeping her hand firmly in place. She felt ridiculously cliché saying that, but his green eyes widened a bit at her statement, and Bella smiled. "Now I'm going to remove my hand, we are going to gather up the rest of the party supplies, you are going to leave first so I can watch you walk a little in those jeans, and we are _only_ ever going to speak about this to _each other, after_ the party. Are we clear?" She raised her eyebrows, waiting.

Edward nodded, and Bella felt his lips pull up in a smile against her palm.

She slowly removed her hand, revealing his smiling face. She grinned back.

"People you love, huh?" he asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Edward," she said, parroting his words back to him, "you know I love you." She shot him a smirk. "Now, please tell me you haven't wrecked my hair and makeup. I don't need Alice to ask questions."

Edward stared thoughtfully at her hair and then brought his eyes back to her face, lingering a little too long on her lips. "Perfect," he said, lips curving ever so slightly upward. "As always."

Bella felt her cheeks heat up and she rolled her eyes. "C'mon then, help me here."

They packed the rest of the sweets and Bella piled his arms with boxes before taking two for herself. She gestured for Edward to lead the way and he chuckled. She could swear there was an extra swing in his step as he walked away from her. Bella didn't mind one bit.

*

The party was a roaring success. Alice had made Edward's apartment unrecognizable. The entire place looked like a disco, with purple, green, blue, and pink lights glowing and reflecting off of an actual disco ball that Alice had acquired… somewhere. Bella couldn't be sure, but she thought she'd seen it in the warehouse. There was disco blaring from his speakers, and holographic streamers hanging from the ceiling. She'd made the breakfast bar into an actual bar, and Jake stood behind it mixing drinks dressed like Tom Cruise in _Risky Business_. Bella was glad his bare legs were behind the bar. She didn't need to see Jake in his underwear any more often than she already did. It was like he was allergic to clothes.

Rosalie and Emmett were a picture-perfect Bonnie and Clyde, watching over Henry, who was playing with Maggie on Edward's couch. Henry was dressed as Batman and Maggie was the sweetest little Cowardly Lion Bella had ever seen. Ben and Angela were chatting with Rosalie and Emmett, looking spectacular as Dorothy and the Scarecrow. Alice was flitting around from group to group, offering up treats and drink refills, ever the gracious hostess. Jessica and Laurent were making out. Which was disturbing on several levels, not the least of which being that she was dressed as Donna Sheridan and he was dressed as Firenze the Centaur. Seth and Leah were chatting with Garrett and Kate. The Clearwater kids had decided to coordinate as the twins from _The Shining_ , while Kate and Garrett were dressed and Dany and Jon Snow.

Bella herself was sitting on the couch with the babies, helping Henry give Maggie raspberries. The couch dipped beside her and she looked up from her task to find Edward holding up two plates laden with food for them.

"Your Majesty," he said, inclining his head and handing her one of the plates.

"Oh!" she said, seizing both her plate and the opportunity, "I should write you a thank you card! Give me your pen!"

"I don't have a pen," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Where's the pen you use to take orders?"

"I'm not taking anyone's orders here."

"Difficult," Bella said, as Edward burst into laughter.

Bella smiled at his crinkled up eyes and the sound of his laugh to the beat of the disco music. One of the reasons she loved Edward was that he went with her bits. If she rambled off a line of show dialogue or a quote from a book, he automatically played along, even if he didn't know what came next. He made the effort, at least. Sometimes it was fun to try and stump him, just to see what he'd come up with.

"I'm sorry my lack of pen inconveniences you, my queen."

Well. Bella liked _that_ title.

"You're very into this costume," she said slyly, taking a sip of her cider and reaching over to give Maggie's stomach a quick tickle. She beamed when Maggie's little bell-laugh pealed out.

Edward was smiling when she turned back to him. "I think Alice did a good job," he said, shrugging. He leaned just a touch closer to her before adding, "And I think you make a stunning Persephone." Bella felt her cheeks go warm and she ducked her head, allowing some of her curls to hide her ridiculous blush. Edward moved her hair away from her face and she felt his lips just barely graze the shell of her ear as he whispered, "And you'll _always_ be my queen."

Edward tilted his head away from hers, giving Bella just enough distance to resume breathing. "Does that make you the king?" she asked, trying to use sarcasm to cover the over-exultant racing of her heart.

Edward actually snorted. "I am, first and foremost, and forever shall be, your willing slave."

Bella was attempting to come up with a suitable retort to this that wasn't just "Holy _fuck_ " when Angela sidled up to them to check on Maggie.

And reality crashed back in.

 _Now or never_ , Bella figured as she tapped Angela's shoulder. "Come talk to me?" Bella asked, gesturing toward the doorway. Angela shrugged and nodded, hitched Maggie onto her hip and signaled to Ben, before heading off toward Edward's front door. "I'll be right back," she told Edward, tapping the bill of his baseball cap at the back of his head, causing it to slide up his forehead.

"Everything okay?" he asked, his eyes concerned. Probably because Bella was pretty sure she looked like she was going to throw up.

"It will be."

She hustled to catch up with Angela, and they left the apartment together and headed for the stairwell at Bella's direction. Bella sat at the top of the stairs and patted the ground next to her, indicating that Angela should sit.

"You're not going to fire me, are you?" Angela asked, a small smile on her face. Maggie giggled and reached for her mother's glasses.

"You know I don't have that power." Bella's eyes rolled involuntarily, and Angela joined her daughter in giggling. "No, I uhm… I needed to tell you something."

"You're seeing Edward," Angela stated. She was so matter-of-fact about it. "I'm not going to lie and say I'm completely okay with it, but-"

"I'm not seeing him!" Bella exclaimed, a little shocked. Angela raised an eyebrow at Bella, clearly disbelieving. "Alright, I'm not saying I don't _want_ to be seeing him, but I'm not."

"Okay. Then what do you need to tell me?"

"Well, mostly that I do want to be seeing him. But, one of us would quit first. Right now, we're friends, and… I guess it depends on how we feel about each other in a few weeks, or a few months…"

"One of you would quit?" Angela still had her brow raised, this time she looked suspicious. "Are you _sure_ about that Bella? Would _he_ quit?"

Bella knew Angela wouldn't just accept this outright, knew better than to be angry about her being wary. But it still stung. She guessed it was because she thought Angela knew Edward better than that.

"Yes." Bella nodded. "He's already looking for new jobs."

"Wow."

"Edward isn't him." Bella put her arm around Angela's shoulders, knowing that talking about him was hard for Angie.

Angela took a deep, shaky breath, and paused for a moment to compose herself before responding. "I know. I just want you to be sure about it. How did this even happen?"

So, Bella told her everything. The bar, twenty questions, furniture shopping, her birthday, the yellow rose ring, and tonight, in her apartment, surrounded by cupcakes. Angela was silent throughout, her face thoughtful.

"I'm pretty sure…" Bella started, uneasy to say it out loud to another human being, "I'm pretty sure I'm in love with him, Ange." She held her head in her hands, unwilling to see the look on Angela's face. "I didn't want to be, not this fast, but I think that's what's happening."

Bella felt a warm pressure on her back, and realized that it was Angela's hand, making small circles. "Nothing happens? Nothing's happened until tonight?"

Bella's head shot up. "No. Never."

"And nothing else will happen while you both work at CFG?"

Bella shook her head vehemently. "No. Small moment of weakness. Never happening again."

"I don't think I ever loved Eric." Angela's voice was small, but peaceful as she watched Maggie play with the ends of her braids. "I used to think I did, but then, now, with Ben? It's incomparable. We've only been together since I was about seven months along, do you remember?"

"I do. You were very scared." Bella tried very hard not to remember Angela, alone and pregnant and so very taken advantage of. Angela, broken. She liked seeing Angela as she was: strong, calm, in love.

"Of course I was. After everything that Eric put me through, after struggling every day with my decisions and their consequences, after it all how could someone like Ben want me? Want us?" She gazed down fondly at Maggie as she said this, eyes roaming her daughter's perfect face, a miniature of Angela's. Only that wasn't entirely true. You could just barely make out the parts of her that were Eric. The darkness of her hair, a few shades darker than Angie's, the shape of her mouth, her one dimpled cheek. "But he did. And my therapist had told me to take risks. To see people as they were and not as what they projected onto themselves." She kissed Maggie's forehead lightly, causing the baby to giggle.

Bella smiled softly at mother and daughter, so perfect.

"There's one thing I'll always be grateful to Eric for. Her. He signed her away, and it hurt me, but she's mine. Mine alone, and Ben's for as long as he'll have us." Angela looked up at Bella, eyes brighter with unshed tears. "When I look at Edward, I don't see Eric. I see a good man, trying very hard to be even better. It won't be the easiest thing for me to accept, but I will accept it. Just, please promise me you'll go about this in the right way."

"I will," Bella promised, her voice wavering with affection for her friend. "I promise you, Angie."

"Good," Angela said, grinning. "We don't need another Dorkie Yorkie."

*

They returned to the party with grins on their faces just as Alice was gathering everyone around for a game of Never Have I Ever.

"What, are we twelve?" Leah asked, taking a seat on the floor against the couch.

"Yes, now shush. Everyone know the rules?" There were nods of assent all around and everyone settled onto the couch and various floor spots. Rosalie was playing with water, as the designated driver, and Angela was sitting with the babies, listening to the action, but playing with the kids.

Bella sat beside Leah on the floor, in front of where Edward was on the couch. She set her drink on the coffee table and leaned back against Edward's legs. She always won Never Have I Ever. Mostly because Alice always made it dirty, and Bella was the most virginal. Her friends were all considerably more adventurous in that department than she was.

There was a loud knock on the door before Jasper burst in, dressed in parachute pants and sneakers, a boombox perched on one shoulder.

Bella couldn't help it, she burst out laughing.

"Jas what the hell are you wearing?" she choked out, one hand gripping her chest and the other holding Edward's leg for support.

Jasper made his way over to the kitchen after setting down his boombox. He made himself a drink and downed half of it before answering. "Dottie bought it and she emotionally blackmailed me into wearing it. It's not any worse than your costume, darlin'," he said, refilling his drink.

"It's so weird that you call your mother 'Dottie'," Bella said, grinning.

"Your costume is way better than his," came a soft voice near her ear, and Bella glanced up at Edward and beamed at him.

"I'm not callin' her Ma in front of y'all. I've learned that lesson." Jasper left the kitchen with his now-full drink, started to head over to the couch, and then suddenly seemed to freeze. Bella couldn't even see if he was breathing.

"Jas? Are you okay?" Bella asked, gazing after her friend in confusion. Everyone had stopped to watch him now, he still hadn't budged. Bella followed his line of sight and spotted Alice, perched similarly stock still on the end of the couch, staring back at Jasper. Oh. Oh no. This was not going to go well.

"Jas? As is Jasper?" Alice said softly, quieter than Bella had ever heard her voice. "As in Jasper Whitlock, that no-good, two-bit, hillbilly, redneck, _doucebag_?!" Her voice had climbed to a screech and she rose quickly from the couch, trying desperately to climb over Emmett, who grabbed her around the waist to keep her from mauling Jasper. The room exploded, several people attempting to hold Alice back and several others trying to free her for the drama of it all. Jessica was desperately clawing at Emmett and Jake was helping her, chief among the chaos lovers, while Rosalie and Ben were both struggling to get them off him. Leah and Seth were both rolling around laughing on the ground as Alice continued her shrieking profanities, looking and sounding so scarily similar that their costumes were creepily appropriate.

Jasper darted back into the kitchen, hiding by the breakfast bar. "I'd recognize that screeching anywhere!" Bella ran to Jasper's aid, convinced that Alice wouldn't kill her to get to him. She was still thrashing around in Emmett's arms, and everyone else was just laughing. Ah yes, a man's life hanging in the balance. Very amusing. Bella knelt down by Jasper in his hiding place, trying to block him from view. "Bella, you didn't tell me that Demon Cullen was so gosh-darn _cute_ ," Jasper said when she arrived.

Bella's eyebrows shot up toward Heaven. She was pretty sure one of them hit God in the face. " _What_?!"

Jasper grinned, and he peeked out over the top of the bar to take in Alice's wriggling form. Bella followed suit. She resembled a large, sparkly, furious worm. "She's hot, Bella. I got eyes."

"Do you 'got' brains?! She's going to disembowel you!"

"For now." He looked thoughtful for a second before declaring, "I think I'm in love."

"It's been four seconds."

Jasper shrugged. "When you know, you know."

"You've only known for one second."

"So there'll be no pussy-footin' around the subject then," he grinned down at Bella, before popping upright and shouting, "Let her go! I like my odds!"

Everyone was shocked into silence and Jessica stage-whispered, "See? Country-boy fine," which caused Seth to burst into renewed hysterics and he nodded vehemently in assent. Leah shrugged in indifference, and Alice remained fuming but managed a scoff where she lay upside-down hanging halfway off the couch, legs still trapped in Emmett's arms.

"You sure, man?" Emmett asked, face incredulous as he glanced down at his sister.

"Gimme a ten second head start and let 'er loose." Jasper grinned as Alice let out a low, terrifying growl.

" _One_ ," she said slowly, sounding more and more like some horrifying beastie.

Bella's eyes went wide, and she quickly slapped Jasper's arm, urging him to run. She needn't have warned him; her hand met air, and he was already halfway out of the apartment.

Once he was out, Emmett released Alice, who promptly streaked out of the apartment screaming about drowning in chiffon and how much "Cowboy Bebop" was going to pay for wrecking her schedules.

"Em, that was only like four seconds!" Bella said, crossing her arms.

"I bet Rosie five bucks that she'd catch him," Emmett said, shrugging.

"Letting her go early is cheating, dummy." Rosalie rolled her eyes.

Emmett waved his hands dismissively and Kate laughed. "Let's play now! Screw the 70s and the 80s, they can catch up after the maiming."

So they all sat with their drinks for a rousing game of Never Have I Ever.

Bella was still painfully sober with eight fingers left in the game, which was annoying Jake to no end.

"Oh!" he said, after looking drunkenly confused for an inordinate amount of time. "Never have I ever kissed a stranger!" He grinned, looking pleased with himself, while Bella, Jessica, Laurent, Kate, Edward, Leah, and Seth all took a drink. "Gotcha Bells!"

"You've kissed a stranger?!" Emmett asked. "That's so out of character." He glanced around the room and noticed Edward finishing his drink. "You too?! Am I going insane? Why are all of the nerds hooking up?!"

Edward scoffed. "No one's hooking up!"

"Well you don't kiss a stranger without planning on hooking up!" Emmett was pointing his beer at Edward, his less-than-sober state of mind seeming to convince him of his faultless logic.

"I did." Edward was insistent, and Bella could see that he was trying very hard not to look at her. She peeked at Angela out of the corner of her eye, and her friend was watching Edward very closely, clearly interested in his take on the subject. Of everyone in the room, only Jessica, Angela, Jake, and Bella knew what Edward was talking about.

"Prove it!" Emmett said, huffing into his bottle.

Edward shrugged. "I had wonderful conversation with a beautiful woman while I was feeling very low at the bar. She was kind, and funny, and made my dark spot a lot brighter. She kissed me before she left."

"Wow," Emmett said, "she kissed you? You didn't have any say in the matter?"

"Well," Edward said, and Bella saw the ends of his ears go red, "I kissed her back of course." He took a long pull from his beer. "Up until recently it was the best kiss of my life."

Bella's face grew very hot, and she desperately held back a giggle. Tonight, he meant tonight! She was elated, embarrassed, excited, and very, very, frustrated that repeats were off-limits. She was bordering on hysteria, here.

"So let me get this straight: _she_ kissed _you_ , left you at the bar, _and_ you still think about it? You sure we're related?" Emmett snorted, before booming, "Never have I ever had sex in a hot tub!"

"God damn it, Emmett, every time! Honestly, fuck _off_ ," Bella said, momentarily forgetting her anxiety over the entire situation, before taking a gulp of her drink. "We have _got_ to stop playing this game."

Emmett giggled like a little kid. "That little nugget of knowledge has many uses and this game is only one." He took a swig of his own drink and nudged Rosalie to do the same. "Stopping the game will not save you from me bringing it up at every opportunity."

"Thanks again for that, Rosie," Bella said, taking the opportunity to glare over at her friend.

"Excuse me, _what_?!" Kate screeched, leaning over the coffee table to snap her fingers in Bella's face. "I'm going to need the details of this story immediately."

"Oh please tell it Bells, I fuckin love this one." Jessica picked up her drink and grinned, settling in like Bella was about to recite the Iliad.

Edward's legs had gone absolutely still behind her. She looked up to see him downing his beer, expressionless. Suddenly Bella didn't mind telling the story. It might be fun to rile Edward up.

"Alright, alright," she said, leaning over to smack Emmett's leg, "since _this_ one has the fattest mouth in history, I guess I'm telling this story." She leaned back and took a large swill of her drink, letting the warmth of the beverage loosen her up. "My ex," she began.

"Dimitri," Jess supplied.

"Yes," Bella continued, pausing to glare at Jessica, "my ex, Dimitri, took me to this beautiful cabin near the Canadian border." They'd had to hike through the woods to get to it, and Bella had fallen over several times. She chose to omit this part of the story. "This was, in fact, the weekend I made the decision to break it off. Several factors went into this decision, but it was actually only one factor, and that factor was his adamant insistence that we have sex in the cabin hot tub. I told him several times that water sex is bad for you, that water breaks down natural lubricants, that it wasn't going to be an enjoyable experience for anyone, but he really, _really_ wanted to have sex in this hot tub." He'd hounded her about it so much that Bella had just gotten so tired of attempting to make the dry land sex adventurous and exciting to get his mind off the idea of hot tubs that she'd just agreed.

"Water sex is bad?" Garrett said, sounding confused.

"Babe, why else do you think I refuse to do shower stuff?" Kate said. "Now shh."

"Huh."

"So, anyway," Bella continued, "I finally get in the hot tub and everything I predicted came true. It was terrible. Worst sex I've ever had, which as some of you should know is saying a lot, because all my encounters kind of suck."

Jess snorted into her beer, and Jake yelled, "Hear, hear!"

"And he blamed _me_!" Bella said, the old indignation creeping back up on her. "So I broke up with him and drove myself home."

Kate burst into hysterics. "Wait," she wheezed out, "you left him there?"

"For all I know, he's still wanking in that hot tub."

Everyone lost it then, but the legs behind Bella remained stock still. After a beat she finally, _finally_ felt him start laughing along with the crowd, and she turned to look up at him. She grinned and rolled her eyes at him, being careful to keep her expression light. He shot her a wink and her heart skipped a quick beat.

As everyone calmed down Bella checked her phone and realized that it was later than she'd anticipated. "And on that extremely sour note," she said, before downing the rest of her drink, "I have to get out of here. Night guys!"

"Goodnight Bells!" Emmett said from his position slumped on the couch. His fedora was at a strange angle and his tie was undone.

Bella chuckled and went around the room, doling out goodbye hugs. Edward stood when she reached him, but instead of accepting her hug, he held out a hand, and led her away from the couch toward the door. "I'll walk you back downstairs." He glanced around before his eyes landed on Angela. "You're in charge while I'm gone."

Angela gave Edward a salute and a smile, and Edward saluted back before he opened the door for Bella and followed her out.

"So," he said, once they were away from the music and the people.

"So," Bella responded.

"So… we kissed." Edward was staring down at his shoes, but Bella could see the smile curving up his cheeks.

"Yes," Bella said, matching Edward's smile, "we did."

"What do we do about that?"

Bella took a deep breath, considering. "Well, I say we do nothing."

"Nothing."

Edward's smile had morphed into a frown, and Bella quickly backtracked. "We can't do anything, can we?" She reached over and squeezed Edward's hand. "We just have to grin and bear it."

Edward finally looked up from his shoes, and his eyes were so intense that Bella's breathing hitched. "That's getting harder to manage."

"Someday," Bella said, swallowing hard, trying to resume normal breathing patterns. "Someday you and I can do that again. A lot of times, if you want that."

"I want much more than that." Edward glanced down at their joined hands, and Bella fought back a victorious grin.

"Okay then."

"And what I want would make you completely forget all about hot tub boy and your 'sucky' encounters." He squeezed her hand and Bella's smile vanished. Her heart was racing. She was fairly confident it was attempting to escape to Talladega, where it would surely win some kind of cup.

"Promise?" she asked.

"Count on it," he said, lifting his eyes from their hands and grinning at her. His green eyes were dancing, and he managed to look amused and completely sincere all at once.

Bella grinned back at him, before holding out her pinky daintily. "Pinky swear?"

Edward laughed and wrapped his pinky around hers.

Their pinkies were still linked as they rounded the corner from the stairwell, into the hallway where Bella and Alice's apartment was.

And there, against the door to her place, was Alice.

And she wasn't alone.

Bella and Edward immediately dropped their pinkies and their jaws.

Because Alice was passionately making out with _Jasper Whitlock_ against their apartment door.

*

 **A/N: Show me the love! What was your favorite part?**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**A/N: Okay okay, I'm sorry. I know I know. But the chapter is extra long just for you guys to make up for the lateness of the update! In other news, this month was crazy stressful, but this story is so much fun and I'm having such a good time writing it that I'm feeling so incredibly grateful to everyone reading. Thank you all SO MUCH.**

 **Disclaimer: I own several show t-shirts and a rudimentary understanding of several subjects but I absolutely do not own Twilight.**

*

Bella was laying on her stomach, offering a stunning vista of her backside, legs crossed in the air as she typed away at a term paper on Edward's couch.

"Are you thirsty?" he asked her as he headed for the kitchen. He needed to walk around or he was going to go insane. He was this close to having to sit on his hands to suppress the urge to touch her, hold her, repeat Halloween, repeat the bar, have his wicked way with her. She was just so ridiculously tempting. He couldn't even blame her; it wasn't like she was aware she was doing it.

"Do you still have that cider mix?" she asked, calling back to him over her shoulder. He hadn't considered that the view of her from his place by the breakfast bar would be just as beautiful. He quickly busied himself checking the cupboards.

"Not only do I have the mix, but I have cinnamon sticks, cloves, and oranges." He set out the supplies and started searching for an appropriate pot.

"We love a man who's prepared," Bella said, eyes never leaving the laptop screen. "You really like fall, huh?" He was silently amazed by her ability to type and hold a conversation at the same time.

She was right, though. Edward's kitchen was fully stocked with soups, comfort food ingredients, cocoa, cider, several types of gourd, and fall baked goods. (Store-bought. Edward couldn't bake to save his life, although Bella had helped with the pumpkin bread.) He'd switched out his linens and towels for fall colors, and there was a little turkey statuette on his entertainment center.

Edward loved the fall. Everything changing colors, early Christmas shopping, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was the best time of year for Edward in Chicago. His parents hosted a giant meal with all of their friends, and Edward got pestered with a thousand questions about his life and his school and that pretty girlfriend of his.

In Chicago, he'd had the answers to those questions. He was particularly excited to be spending Thanksgiving in Seattle this year, where no one (well, almost no one; he'd received a slightly disturbing call earlier this week) knew or cared about Victoria, his Comm degree, or what his five year plan was. Mostly because he and Victoria were decidedly over, his Comm degree was gathering dust, and his five year plan at the moment only included ravishing his best friend multiple times. Not exactly a great conversation topic. Well, not for his family anyway.

"Yes I do," he said, emerging from his cabinets with the perfect cider pot. He started the cider going before he began to slice the orange. He was so focused on the task that he didn't hear Bella enter the kitchen. She was leaning very close to him, ear tilted toward the floor, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Does that sound like they're in flagrante or arguing?" she asked, leaning further down.

Last week Bella had discovered that if you listened closely to Edward's kitchen vent, located at the base of the entrance by the sink, you could hear Alice and Jasper whenever they were being… loud. He or Bella always had a quick listen before she went home, as any loud noise was probably a good indicator that Bella should not go anywhere near their apartment.

Edward shot Bella a look. "I'm not about to listen to my cousin potentially having sex."

"Right," Bella said, shrugging, "I always forget that part." Bella's face scrunched up as she listened even more closely. "Okay, they're arguing. I finished four pages of my paper, I think it's time for a movie break." She straightened up and stretched, her arms reaching above her head and her torso swaying from side to side, revealing a slip of her pale skin between her sweater and her jeans. She reached up onto her tiptoe to take some plates from one of Edward's cabinets, and made her way around him to get to the fridge, hip checking him along the way.

"I'm holding a knife, Miss Swan!" Edward yelped.

"That just makes the difficulty level of the stunt go up from two to six."

"That doesn't make any sense." Edward chuckled and set back to slicing the orange.

"When you're this pretty," Bella said, gesturing to herself, "you don't need to make sense." She pulled out her phone and started tapping away at God knows what. Bella had set up all of his Bluetooth devices and paired both of their phones. Which meant she could be putting on a movie, dimming the lights, or turning on the floor heaters.

"The pretty is a bonus," Edward said, putting the orange slices into the hot pot of cider, and giving it a stir, "the brain is what people love."

"People," she said, smirking at him.

"What, am I not people?"

Bella giggled, and the bass line of Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" started playing through Edward's stereo. Ah, so that was what she was doing on the phone.

Bella had loosened up considerably since that first week, but she still didn't sing in front of him. He was, however, invited to dance parties.

He gave the pot another stir and watched as she took rhythmic steps toward the fridge, swaying her arms to the beat like the boys in _The Breakfast Club._ She stopped when she reached the fridge and threw open the door, humming along to the melody, bouncing with one hand on her knee and the other holding open the fridge door. She pulled out leftover apple pie from their last Sunday dinner at Esme and Carlisle's, and twirled back over to the counter where she'd put the plates. She did some weird form of a cha-cha side step as she opened his utensil drawer and started dishing up pie. She somehow managed to do the running man as she headed for the microwave holding both plates of pie.

Edward took the opportunity while the pie was reheating to get some glasses down from the cabinet, and grab the ice cream from the freezer. Edward had no qualms with singing along, and he did so, loudly. Bella made the bass noises right along with him.

Edward set the glasses on the counter near the stove and the ice cream next to the pie. He took Bella's hand and spun her once, twice, three times before spinning her out and then back into his arms, singing all the while. " _Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!_ " He took her other hand, flipped her out of his embrace, and bridged their arms, sending her back toward the microwave just as it began beeping, mingling with the sound of Bella's laughter. She hit the button to stop the beeping right as he tugged her back toward him with their joined hands. He placed a quick kiss to the top of Bella's head, before letting her go to pour out their cider.

Bella was still giggling as he turned back to her with the cider cups, shaking her hips around and scooping ice cream onto their plates. The song ended and Bella tapped her phone, cutting off the music. She licked some stray ice cream from her thumb, and grabbed the carton and the pie to put back in the fridge. Edward set the cups next to the warm pie, snatched the food from her hands, and put it away himself as he shooed her out of the kitchen. Bella snorted and grabbed the pie plates, making a beeline for the couch. Edward got the cider and followed her.

"What movie, Bella?" he asked.

"I'm in the mood to watch someone axe murder a hoard of reavers single-handed."

" _Serenity_ it is," Edward said, chuckling and heading for the entertainment center.

Bella settled into one of the couch's corners, tucking her legs up to one side and snagging the plaid blanket from their picnic off the back. She spread it over herself and left room for Edward on the other side. Edward set their drinks on the coffee table and headed for the entertainment center. "We have to watch the special features though. The bloopers slay me."

He nodded and kept hunting for Serenity when Bella's phone rang.

" _Bad boys! Whatcha gone, whatcha gone do, bad boys?_ "

Edward had to physically restrain himself from bleating out an incredibly unflattering laugh, and the process made his ribs ache so much that he collapsed onto the floor.

"Hi, Dad!" Bella chirped into the phone as "Bad Boys" cut off. Edward wheezed as he heard who she was talking to and clutched his side as the effort of holding in his laughter gave him a cramp. "No, she's not here… Well I guess you'll have to talk to just me, then," Bella said, rolling her eyes. She slapped her hand over the receiver and turned to Edward. "Would you get the movie, Chuckles? You can make fun of me for my ringtone choices later." She removed her hand and went back to her call and Edward let out another soft wheeze before getting up and getting back to his movie search, quietly listening.

"Really?" Bella said, her voice going up an entire octave. It was kind of shrill. Huh. A flaw. Who knew she had them? Certainly not Edward. "You mean it? No, of course you'll stay here! Dad, that's why the couch pulls out… No, for me! Oh, Dad… Carlisle and Esme won't mind. Dad. Dad, you know they love you. Dad, you're not usually this verbose, did you take a shot?" Bella snorted at whatever her father said, boisterously. Edward wasn't sure he'd ever seen any of these little quirks. Maybe they were exclusive to fatherly interactions. Something to learn every day. "Okay, Dad. Tuesday. A whole week, right? Promise? Okay… Love you, too, Dad. Bye!"

She hung up the phone and Edward felt something soft hit him in the back. He turned and saw one of the couch throw pillows on the ground. She'd thrown a throw pillow at him!

"That's not what throw pillows are for, Miss Swan."

"Then why are they called 'throw' pillows?" she asked, arching one eyebrow.

Edward sighed. "Well, you've got me there."

"Exactly."

"So?" Edward asked.

"So."

"So Charlie called?" Edward went back to his movie search, wondering how it was possible that his carefully-organized system of genres had broken down after only a few months.

"Charlie called," Bella confirmed. "He arrives for Thanksgiving on Tuesday. He'll be here all week." Edward glanced back to see Bella smiling softly.

"So."

"So?" Bella looked back over at Edward, brow furrowed with confusion.

"So, Charlie's ringtone is the theme from _Cops_." Edward chuckled and turned back to the movies. He felt another soft thud against his back and saw another throw pillow beside the first.

"Shut up, pretty boy."

"I just think it's adorable that you matched his ringtone to his job." Edward tried not to laugh, but failed miserably.

Bella rolled her eyes at his hysterics. "Well, yours is 'No Scrubs' so I guess I have a theme."

"What?!" Edward shot up from the floor, indignant. "I have my own car and a job and I have never once 'hollered' at you."

"It's the song we danced to that night at the club. I was too drunk to remember so I asked Seth." She was blushing now, and her voice was softer. _Oh. Oh!_ Well, now, that was adorable. He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes once more, trying to play it off. But he saw her soft smile.

They heard a loud thump from downstairs, and Bella sighed dramatically before flopping down on the couch and throwing an arm over her eyes.

"God, they're annoying."

Edward finally found the movie, and moved to put it in the player, struggling to keep his face neutral. "They don't… bother you?" he asked softly. If Edward was totally honest with himself, they did bother him a little. Alice didn't even _like_ Jasper, and they were downstairs going at it, while he absolutely loved Bella, she was one of the few people he could say he loved completely, and they had moral breakdowns over one kiss. He kept his back to Bella as he waited for her answer, concerning himself with the movie adjustments.

"Not particularly," she said, but Edward could hear a slight edge to her voice.

"Particularly?" he asked, smiling despite his struggle to maintain composure. He could tell that she didn't want to say anything negative about her friend. Despite whatever she felt about her newfound boy-toy, Bella loved Alice.

She just also loved Edward. "Well, no, not particularly bothered. Just… frustrated." He heard her sigh as he headed back for the couch, lifting her legs and then settling them onto his lap once he was situated. She removed her arm and gave him a small smile, but her eyes were troubled. Edward raised an eyebrow at her, prompting her to continue, and began to give her a foot rub. Bella sighed again, this time seeming much more relaxed. "They aren't breaking the rules. Not the way we would be. Jasper isn't Ali's boss, and Ali isn't Jasper's boss. So if I'm being incredibly technical… No. I'm not bothered."

"That makes sense," Edward said, nodding a bit and removing one hand from Bella to snag the remote. She made a little noise of protest, and Edward chuckled as he hit the play button and resumed the massage.

"But I'm definitely frustrated."

"Three years will do that to a woman."

Bella kicked Edward in the gut. He winced and then began to laugh, trapping her wayward foot under an arm. When she settled back against the cushions he resumed his attentions.

"Don't talk about my sex life, pal, or you'll never know anything about it again." Her statement was undercut by the slight groan of satisfaction she made as Edward kneaded her arches. He had a feeling that someday he'd know all about her sex life. But he definitively couldn't think of that now, when her legs were in his lap. His traitorous, traitorous lap. "Anyway," she continued, as the Universal logo dominated his screen, "I'm only frustrated because I have certain feelings that I personally can't act on, and they're free as a bird. And acting on my feelings is a favorite of my pastimes."

Edward grinned at her. Never before had he heard a woman use so many words to say she was sexually frustrated. She was decisively looking at the screen, her cheeks tinged a flaming pink. He kept watching her, adoring the way the flush spread across her cheeks and toward her ears. "Stop staring at me." Edward rolled his eyes and focused on the movie.

They enjoyed in silence, Edward's hands drifting upward from her feet to her calves, before finally settling and making idle patterns across the fabric of her leggings, Bella only occasionally letting out a sigh or small vocal reactions to the movie.

Edward chose a moment of quiet to tell Bella his news. "My parents, well, my mom, called. They're coming for Thanksgiving too." Bella's legs froze, her muscles tensing up, and Edward ran his hands over them, trying to get her to loosen up. He scooted over and pulled her up so she was sitting, then leaned over so his lips brushed her ear as he spoke. "They're going to love you."

"Evidence would suggest otherwise." He knew she was worried about the fact that Edward's mother still wished he was with Victoria. His father had been working on it, but Bella had heard one side of a few calls in which Edward had to keep reminding her that Victoria had cheated on him, and that kind of action was unforgivable. She'd come around though, he knew. She hadn't met Bella yet. Bella made all the difference.

Elizabeth Masen just wanted her son to be happy. She didn't always choose the best way to achieve that, just the way she saw as best. There was no one, absolutely no one on the planet that made Edward happier than Bella, and he was certain that his mother would see that. Everyone else did, even if most of them just thought she was his best friend only. Esme had made some comment last week about her being his own personal Prozac. "You're just so calm and content with her around," she'd said, grinning like a maniac. They shared a wealth of genetic material, so Elizabeth's feelings were sure to mirror Esme's, right?

"Bella, please. She'll love you just like I do. Just like everyone does."

Bella snorted. "At the very least dinner will be interesting."

"Define interesting," Edward said, grinning.

"'Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die'?" Bella said, before bursting into giggles.

Edward joined her in her laughter. "Bella," he managed, "you're ridiculous." He took a deep breath, regaining his composure. "It's all going to be fine. I, for one, am looking forward to meeting the barrel of Charlie's gun."

Bella snorted out a laugh and punched his arm. "He already loves you more than me. 'Oh Edward, thanks for taking care of my girl,' 'Oh Edward, let's talk baseball!'" She had on a ridiculous masculine voice as she imitated her father.

"It's not my fault I'm likable." Edward was smiling, remembering the times Bella had been forced to hand the phone over when she was talking to Charlie. Luckily for Edward, Charlie had taken a shine to him early on. They'd bonded over sports, fishing, and a mutual appreciation of a certain lead customer service representative. Beside that, Charlie had no beef with Bella's friends. She was an adult, and was allowed to have them, after all. Now, if Edward were, say, a boyfriend, those conversations may have gone a a bit differently. "If you can't make shotgun father jokes about the Chief of Police who can you make them about?"

Bella shrugged. "I guess that's a valid point."

"I rest my case."

"That's my line." Bella smirked and lay back on the remaining throw pillows.

"Not for another six months." Edward smiled widely at her, and Bella groaned.

"Don't remind me." Bella returned to the screen as Edward chuckled.

"Oh yeah," he said, "My mother's going to _adore_ you."

*

As luck would have it, Charlie was arriving on a day that Bella and Edward were both off, and Edward had insisted that he drive her to the airport, so that Ali could have the car. Bella was messing with her phone, adjusting the music as they headed out for SeaTac. Steely Dan started blaring through his speakers and Edward snickered loudly.

"Steely Dan?" he asked.

"This is my Charlie playlist," she replied, shaking the phone. "Wait until we get into CCR."

"You call Credence Clearwater Revival 'CCR'?" Edward loved that she was still surprising him.

Bella giggled, a sound that made Edward's chest tight. He wanted hear her giggle all the time. "Trust me, deep down, I am a bass fishing, truck driving, redneck woman."

Edward grinned. "Should I buy some overalls?"

"Oh please, oh please, be my Huck Finn." Her voice was delightfully deadpan.

"Anytime, Tom Sawyer," he replied, smiling over at her for a moment. Her eyes held laughter, and her smile was bright. He would never get tired of her looking at him like that.

They arrived at the airport and lucked into a great parking spot. Bella fed the meter while Edward leaned against it, watching her nimble fingers. She fed the last quarter in and Edward took her hand before she could put it back in her pocket.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her telltale blush creeping up to her cheeks.

"Gotta hold an adult's hand when you cross the street, Miss Swan." Edward was walking backwards across the sidewalk, dragging Bella along by both hands.

"I could potentially hold my own hand, then," she said, face flushed, but still smiling. "I'm an adult. Also you're much more of a danger walking that way than I am!"

Edward shook his head, stepping up onto the curb and pulling hard on Bella's hands so she rammed right into him. He snorted. "The difference, my dear Tom Sawyer, is coordination. I have it, you don't," he said, letting go of one of her hands to tug on a lock of her hair. "As evidenced by the fact that pulling very slightly on your hands causes you to stumble into me like a drunk."

Bella scowled and punched his arm with her free hand. "'Slightly'?!" she said. "You yanked on purpose. I'm coordinated." It was her turn to drag him across the airport. "Hell, I'm more coordinated drunk. That statement doesn't even have merit."

Edward was enjoying letting her lead the way. "You know what? You're right. Jose Cuervo is like your own personal finishing school." He leveled out with her, and leaned down. "Except for all the inappropriate kissing you seem to get up to." She gasped, half offended, half shocked. "Not that I'm complaining."

He moved away and looked into her eyes. They were a bit foggy, like she was thinking of something else. He grinned, fairly certain of the location of her thoughts. "You know," she said, blinking rapidly and rushing forward again to keep dragging Edward across the terminal, "friends are not usually this mean to each other." Edward just chuckled. "So, so mean," she muttered. Edward could see that the back of her neck was bright red.

They arrived at baggage claim and Bella started hopping around, trying to see above people. Edward snickered and laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "You know I can see over them a lot easier than you can, Bella. Stop jumping like a delusional grasshopper."

Bella punched him on the arm but stopped the jumping. Which was really for the best, because Edward didn't want to get caught by Charlie watching Bella's ass and chest as she jumped. Charlie liked him but not _that_ much. And Edward didn't have that much willpower. He focused instead on scanning the faces of the people streaming out of the plane.

He caught a glimpse of brown hair and suddenly there was a break in the crowd. Bella took off like a shot, screaming, "Dad!" at the top of her lungs. _My God, I love that woman_. He didn't know whether he should admire her joie de vive or despair over the fact that the woman he considered himself closest to in the world was so ridiculous. But when she returned, lugging Charlie's duffel in front of her with both hands, her father's arm around her shoulders, and her face glowing with a light he'd never seen on her before, he knew that her ridiculousness was yet another reason to love her.

"Bells, you give me that bag," Charlie insisted, trying to wrest it from her unforgiving grip.

"Absolutely not!" She tugged it away from him, almost slamming it into Edward's leg.

Edward took the opportunity to snatch the bag from her, hiking it onto his shoulder. "Hello, Chief Swan," he said, smiling at the man and holding out a hand. He was a few inches shorter than Edward, with Bella's thick hair cropped close to his head and above his upper lip. But what really struck Edward were his eyes. They were the exact shape and shade as Bella's, although he had laugh lines at the corners and his were slightly smaller, causing them to be less doe-like and more intense. He was assessing Edward's face with those eyes, squinting a bit, before looking down at Edward's outstretched hand. Edward was starting to freak out a little. Charlie liked him, didn't he? He hadn't seen Edward watching Bella jumping, had he? He couldn't possibly read his (admittedly inappropriate) thoughts, right? Maybe Edward should break down before Charlie cracked him and admit everything. The kisses, how much he loved Bella, the incredibly non-father-friendly feelings, everything. Charlie glanced back at Bella, who over-exaggeratedly rolled her eyes, causing Charlie to break out in a grin. He turned back to Edward, clapped his hand in his own, and shook enthusiastically, while Edward let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Edward Masen, I assume," the Chief said, dropping Edward's hand and throwing his arm back over Bella's shoulders.

"Yes sir," Edward said, gesturing toward the exit. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Edward led the way out of the airport, while Bella chattered away at Charlie about law school, Alice, and work.

"Oh, and Dad, you would not believe how well the schedule works now that Edward's there!" she said, practically skipping as they reached the car. She was obviously giddy from her father being here. "Not once have I had to switch because he scheduled me over my classes, and every day I need off magically appears." She winked over at Edward as he opened her door and she slid into the backseat. Edward rolled his eyes but smiled, effectively undercutting the entire eye-rolling sentiment. He hopped into the driver's seat as Charlie was turning back to address Bella.

"Being best friends with the bosses is finally giving you the advantages you deserve, huh?" He cuffed Edward on the arm and chuckled. The entire gesture reminded him of Bella. Wow, they were so alike. It was freaking Edward out a little to be honest. Their relatedness was so incredibly apparent that Edward was worried he'd find himself fawning over Charlie soon. The thought was disturbing.

Bella and Edward locked eyes in the rearview mirror, and she rolled hers. He was rapidly realizing that the eye-rolling habit was a trait he'd inherited directly from her. It was a wonder that they weren't both constantly suffering from migraines. It couldn't possibly be healthy.

"Dad, I'm not getting special treatment. The scheduling complaints have gone down across the board."

"To great personal suffering," Edward interjected. "I _hate_ the scheduling program."

"Uh huh," Charlie said, glancing between Edward and Bella. "Sure."

Bella sighed.

Edward interjected with talk of the Cubs, which immediately occupied Charlie's attentions. He spent the rest of the ride back to the complex berating Edward's baseball taste and praising the Mariners. Edward walked all the way to the door before he held out his hand again for Charlie to shake.

"It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Chief Swan." Charlie took Edward's hand, giving a quick shake.

"You as well, Edward. You comin' in? I'm pretty sure the game's on," Charlie pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the door, and Edward saw Bella scowl.

Edward shook his head and brought Bella out from Charlie's side to stand in front of him, facing her father. "No sir, I believe I'm wanted on my own couch while you and Bella get in some quality bonding." Charlie chuckled and Bella spun around to face him, beaming.

"Thanks," she said.

"Of course," he replied, shooting her a quick wink. "See you tomorrow?"

"Carpool?" she asked.

"I'll be here with coffee."

"Bless you." She grinned up at him, and Edward reached up to tug on a lock of her hair.

She turned back to Charlie, shoving past him to unlock the apartment door. Charlie was glancing between Edward and Bella, eyes darting back and forth rapidly. His eyebrows were somewhere near his hairline, and his lips pursed just a bit. Edward immediately dropped his gaze to his shoes.

"See you tomorrow, Edward," Charlie said. Edward's head shot up to meet the chief's eyes, and saw that Charlie was smiling, ever so slightly. Holy hell, did he approve? Charlie followed Bella into the apartment and Edward waved at them both before heading back to his own place.

Charlie Swan knew something was up. And whatever he knew, he was cool with.

*

Edward's parents arrived Wednesday night after his shift.

As in, he clocked out and they were standing right behind him in the offices of CFG.

The day had been going pretty well up to that point. He'd picked up Bella and handed her an iced coffee (which he could now make at home, having purchased a moderately expensive cold brew machine) and listened to her describe her evening with her father. Charlie had arrived at CFG accompanied by Alice, who had the day off. She was supposed to be entertaining him, but he'd insisted on coming to see Bella in action. He'd observed her and Edward working together for a while, Edward being sure to keep slightly more distance than normal between them. They still joked and anticipated the other's needs, but he kept a good two feet between them at all times.

When Jake had arrived for his shift it was pandemonium. He had Charlie up in the air in about four seconds flat and then they were tussling like teenagers. Esme and Carlisle had come out from the office and looked on, bored, as though this were entirely normal. Bella didn't even break stride. When they broke apart, they'd all had a good time catching up with Charlie, who told them all hilarious cop stories and fishing tales about himself and Jake's father, Billy. Carlisle and Esme had insisted that Edward join Bella and Charlie for lunch. The five of them had a grand time eating and discussing Thanksgiving plans. Esme was ecstatic that her sister was going to be in town, and Edward himself was a little jumpy anticipating his parents' arrival.

Which appeared to be now.

"Darling!" his mother crooned, attaching herself firmly to his waist, hugging him like he'd returned from the dead. "Oh, we've missed you!"

"Hello, Mother," Edward said, returning his mother's hug. He was nervous, but not because they were there.

"Hey Edward, I think this lotion explo- Oh. Hi."

Bella was standing in the hall behind them, holding her purse and a wad of napkins. The scent of freesia filled the hallway from her lotion, which appeared to coat the napkins. Oh yeah, that's what there was to be nervous about. Bitty and Bella having any sort of interaction.

Elizabeth freed Edward and turned to face the newcomer. "Well hello dear," she said, and Edward could hear the smile in her voice, "I'm Elizabeth Masen, and this is my husband Edward Sr." She gestured to herself and then to Edward's father, before holding her hand out for Bella.

Bella shot Edward a look of panic before she shoved her purse and napkins onto a cabinet, smiled, and accepted Elizabeth's hand.

"Hello Mrs. Masen, my name is Bella Swan. I'm the team lead at the service desk, so I work pretty closely with your son and your sister. I'm also Alice's roommate." Elizabeth turned back to Edward and beamed.

"Alice's roommate, huh?" she said, turning to Edward's father. "That means she's Edward's neighbor also."

"Yes, she is," Edward interjected. "And she's a true friend, mother." Elizabeth looked back at her son and exhaled in a huff. "Now stop prying." She covered her heart with her hand as her mouth dropped open. "Bella, head into the office, I'm pretty sure I have wet wipes in the drawer." Bella grabbed her stuff from the cabinet and made her way toward the door of Edward's office.

"It was lovely to meet you," she said to Elizabeth and Edward Sr. She shot Edward a look that said, "see you in a minute." Edward just nodded.

"You as well, dear." Bella disappeared into the office and Elizabeth rounded on Edward. "Edward, who is that?"

"Mother, she just told you who she is," Edward said, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was not going to end well.

"Yes, but who is she to you?"

"My best friend," Edward said, removing his hand and fixing his mother with a hard stare.

Elizabeth glanced over at the office door, no doubt trying to x-ray in and see Bella fumbling around with her purse. Edward smiled at just the thought.

"Well…" Elizabeth said, watching Edward closely, "she seems lovely."

"She is." Edward sighed, believing that to be that. "How was the flight?"

Elizabeth beamed at him, and immediately began babbling away about the in-flight entertainment, and the lovely stewardess. "… and Victoria wanted us to tell you hello, she is _such_ a lovely woman, isn't she?"

Edward almost had an aneurism.

"Mother!"

"Darling, please, she's a wonderful-"

"Dear, maybe we shouldn't," Edward Sr. tried to interject, but Edward stopped him.

"She is _not_ wonderful. She made me feel two inches tall and she cheated on me!" He was yelling, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. "I missed Ali's graduation, I missed Henry's birthdays, I missed my own family, and she couldn't even bother to stay faithful. She tried to blame _me_ for what _she_ did. Now I may not have been the greatest partner, but I certainly didn't deserve that."

"Edward," his mother started, but he couldn't stop. He was finally telling her everything he'd wanted to since the moment he'd left Chicago.

"No, Mother. That girl in there," he said, pointing to the door of his office, "has treated me better than Vic ever did, and she isn't even my girlfriend. She's taught me about my own worth, and I'm worth more than that, from anyone in my life, but especially from a significant other. And Esme, and Carlisle, Ali and Emmett, all of my family, they support my decisions, and I need you to do the same." Edward caught a peek of Bella, peering out from the office, obviously torn between running far away and staying in the office indefinitely. "Bella," he said, and the door opened a little wider. "Let's go." She left the office and Edward took her hand, dragging her behind him as he started to storm out of the office.

He stopped short, whirling on his mother, just as Esme exited her office, looking startled about all the noise. "I'll see you both at Thanksgiving, but if I hear another word about Victoria, I can promise you it will be the last time you see me in quite a while."

"It really was great meeting you!" Bella shouted behind her as Edward kept dragging her out of the office and onto the sales floor. Edward could have sworn he heard Esme snort.

*

"Edward," Bella said. They were sitting in the car, parked outside the apartment complex, and he hadn't said anything since they'd left the store. He was still fuming. Why would she bring up Victoria? He knew his mother loved her, but there was absolutely no reason for her to talk about her. Elizabeth knew she'd hurt him. She knew that he didn't want to hear about her, or talk about her, or see her. And yet, she consistently brought Victoria up any time they spoke.

"Edward," Bella said again, reaching over to tap his hand on the gearshift.

He flipped his hand over and held hers tightly. "I'm so sorry, Bella."

"For what?" she asked, softly. She chuckled a bit. "You didn't do anything. Except for say what you were feeling."

"But she-"

"She's your mom. She's supposed to drive you insane. Now that you've told her how you feel, I expect she'll stop name-dropping your ex." She gave his hand a squeeze and released it. "Will she always be in contact with _her_?"

Edward wanted to cheer at the tone Bella used when she spoke about Victoria. The latent anger made him feel secure, but the jealousy made him feel wanted. It was the perfect balm to his frazzled nerves. "Probably not. When I get married she's sure to drop ties with the ex's family." Bella's face had flushed when he said "married." He grinned.

Bella cleared her throat. "Did you mean it?"

"The whole getting married thing? Yeah."

"No, the part where you told her… that I'd treated you better than your ex. That I'd shown you your worth." She was staring down at her hands in her lap, and Edward could see that her ears were pink.

Edward watched her, her thumbs fiddling with each other, her leg shaking quickly, bottom lip trapped between her teeth. He reached over and placed his hand over hers, ceasing the fiddling and the leg jiggling. With his other thumb he pulled on her bottom lip, freeing it from her teeth. "You're gonna start bleeding if you don't cut that out."

"Did," she said, staring so deeply into his eyes that he felt like her brown irises were the only thing in the world, "you mean it?"

"Of course, crazy. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

When her face lit up with joy, he couldn't help feeling that he'd argue with his mother until the end of time if this was his reward.

*

 **A/N: Let me know what you think! Who's ready for Thanksgiving?! Thanksgiving in May/June, my dream come true! Drop me a review if you had fun!**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**A/N: This one goes out to sarae32, who asked that Thanksgiving come in May. Although in her time zone, it is unfortunately June. Sorry! But just know that here I still have a few hours left! We are nearing the end of this tale, folks, so buckle on up!**

 **Disclaimer: I'm what I own, so I own not a notion, I escape and ape, content. I don't own emotion, I rent. Also I don't own Twilight.**

*

Bella arrived at the Cullen household at the wee hour of eight AM. She had dragged Charlie out of bed, him grumbling all the while. When they'd arrived at Carlisle and Esme's, she'd sat him down on the couch, plied him with coffee, and turned on Sports Center. He'd kept grumbling for a few minutes, but then became completely engrossed in the football predictions.

Bella made her way into the kitchen, immediately setting to work making the dough for the pie crusts. Esme was at the opposite counter, working on several sides, and the turkey was waiting on the kitchen island for the stuffing to be finished. The worked in silence for a while, Bella sipping coffee and kneading dough, Esme chopping and seasoning, both completely content to cook.

At least, that's what Bella thought.

"Hey, honey?" Esme said, as Bella put the dough in the fridge to chill.

"Yeah, Esme?" Bella turned to start working on the pie fillings, but Esme stopped her. She sat Bella on the stool at the kitchen island, taking Bella's coffee mug to freshen the cup.

Esme set her coffee in front of her, and leaned down on the counter to address Bella. "My sister,"

"Oh, Esme, please, don-"

"My sister can be stubborn," Esme said, cutting her off. "But please don't hold that against her. What happened yesterday was not about you. Edward may have included you in the discussion, but that's only because he cares about you." Esme smiled softly. "We all do."

"Thanks Esme," Bella said, smiling back at her. "I know it wasn't about me, and your sister seems lovely." Bella took a sip of her coffee. "Terrible taste in women, but lovely nonetheless."

Esme laughed, and Bella joined her before returning to the pie fillings.

"Well, the taste can't be helped. But I'm sure she'll develop an affinity for a new flavor soon enough." Bella gaped at Esme, who winked at her.

"Esme!"

"What? I have eyes. I know that you're not going to do anything while you're both at the store, but you won't be there for much longer." Esme shrugged. "I'm glad you're not trying to get special treatment, I'm grateful even. Because let me tell you, I'd be hard-pressed to say no to you." Esme grinned. "The way you two are with each other seems positively worthy of a rule break, but everyone knows that making exceptions never works." Esme's expression fell, and she continued. "You end up making more and more until something like Angela happens all over again."

"I wouldn't ever want to put you all through that again. Even if it wasn't _me_ , it would be someone." Bella took another sip of her coffee, studiously staring into the caffeinated depths.

"I know, dear. Unfortunately every retailer I know of has this same rule, and for very good reason, but it's keeping you in this ridiculous limbo." Esme patted Bella's hand before taking it in her own. "You won't be in limbo forever."

"How did you even know?" Bella asked, finally meeting Esme's eyes, those same sparkling green eyes that she shared with Alice and Edward.

"Ah, honey," she said, shooting Bella a smirk, "that love talk in my office? Just made me perk up and pay attention."

"Wow." Bella shook her head. "I have _got_ to be more discreet."

Esme giggled. "No, if you were more discreet, I'd be more suspicious." She headed back to her station at the counter, pulling a pack of gum out of her pocket and tossing a strip to Bella. "Now, chew this while I dice an onion."

Bella just rolled her eyes and accepted the gum, popping it in her mouth as she started slicing apples. A few minutes later they heard a ruckus at the door before Rosalie appeared in the kitchen, immediately setting to work arranging the dishes she'd brought.

"My husband is arguing with your father over Superbowl prospects and Henry is running around screaming for Auntie Bella." She gave each of the women in the kitchen a hug, before shoving Bella toward the door. "Desserts are last, they can wait a minute," she said. "Go make Henry do that thing he does when you're here."

"You mean sit quietly?"

"Yes that's the thing," she said, finally managing to get Bella out the door. The second she entered the room she had to catch Henry, who leaped at her.

"Auntie Bewwa!" he screamed, before he burst into hysterics because Bella had started blowing raspberries onto his tiny neck. "Auntie Bewwa, no!" His tiny hands flailed around, lightly hitting her face and shoulders, but she just kept right on going.

"Bells, that kid's gonna pee on ya," Charlie called out from the couch, causing Bella to immediately cease fire. Charlie laughed at her disgusted face.

Bella shrugged and put one more raspberry right on Henry's belly, causing him to shriek. "Wouldn't be the first time," she told Charlie nonchalantly.

She planted Henry next to Charlie on the couch and sat in front of him, pointing out different players and which teams wore what colors. Eventually Henry got bored of that, though, and demanded an Airplane.

Which is what she was doing when Edward arrived with Alice and his parents in tow.

 _Great_.

Like Elizabeth Masen didn't already think that Bella was strange, what with the hasty exit and exploded lotion. Now she was running through the house with a toddler making motor noises with her mouth. She stopped short and Henry started to protest.

"Auntie Bewwa, Aiwpwane! Aiwpwane!"

Edward, who'd been scowling when he entered, grinned at her and came to retrieve Henry. "Hey pal," he said, tickling the child's sides until he squealed. "Come on, Auntie Bella's arms can only take so much."

" _Hey!_ " Bella protested, brows furrowed.

"Hey," Edward replied, grinning at her and pulling Henry out of her arms.

"Not a greeting," Bella grumbled.

Edward just gave Henry a squeeze and chuckled. "I know," he said. Edward leaned down to whisper in Bella's ear as his companions started to make the rounds of greetings. "She apologized for five minutes in the car and it was mostly about upsetting me and being rude in front of you. She's not really sorry for still talking to She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named."

"Did you just equate your ex to Voldemort?" Bella asked, raising an eyebrow as she spotted Edward Sr. introducing himself to Charlie.

Edward just shrugged. "Something about shoes fitting."

Bella let out a mild snort. "Give her time."

Edward just rolled his eyes and gave Henry another squeeze, causing the toddler to laugh. "This is helping. He's like a little stress ball." Henry giggled again, and Edward gave him a quick toss in the air, before blowing a loud raspberry on his cheek.

Bella let out her own giggle before heading over to greet the other newcomers.

"Hey, Ali," she said, giving her a hug. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Alice was holding two entire bags full of wine. "Happy Thanksgiving," she said, before bustling her was into the kitchen with the hooch.

"Alice, who is going to drink all of that?" she called after her.

"With any luck, me!"

Bella shook her head and turned back to Edward's parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Masen, hello. Happy Thanksgiving," she said, smiling and holding out her hand for a shake. She was bound and determined to get these people to like her. For Edward's sake as well as her own.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Mr. Masen replied kindly, taking Bella's hand to shake.

"Bella, dear, can I speak with you privately?" Elizabeth asked, and Bella's stomach dropped.

"Yes, of course," Bella said, gesturing her forward toward the dining room. When they were safely out of earshot, surrounded by piles of china and silverware, Elizabeth took Bella's hand.

"I'm so sorry that you were trapped in that awful situation," she said, giving Bella's hand a squeeze. "That is not the way to make an impression, and I deeply regret upsetting Edward so much, leaving you in the crossfire."

Bella wasn't sure what to say. Didn't she understand that her son was hurt? That he wasn't upset, he was in pain? That mentioning the woman who had derailed his intended future and given him an inferiority complex was not only insensitive, but cruel? It had only been four months since they'd broken up, for God's sake! It still hurt to think that someone could cheat on him, could be so crass and careless with his feelings. He may have been over Victoria, but he wasn't yet over what she'd done to him. Those kind of trust issues and self-deprecating tendencies were hard to shake.

"We've met before, you know," Bella said. "At Rose's baby shower."

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed, as though she were thinking very hard. Suddenly they widened, and she smiled at Bella. "Yes, I remember. You were so lovely, helping Rose around the party and making sure everyone had a full drink. And that gift you made for her was darling!"

"I remember you too, Mrs. Masen. I remember thinking that you and Esme were so alike. Right down to your voices. That someone so similar must also contain the multitudes of love that Esme seems to give away so effortlessly." Bella took a deep breath. "And I think that's why you're so quick to keep excusing Victoria."

"Excusing? I don't understand." Elizabeth shook her head. "She made a mistake, but she makes my son happy. Mistakes can be forgiven for the sake of happiness."

Bella sighed. "Mrs. Masen, I care very deeply about your son. I can't speak for the way he acted in Chicago, but he _is_ happy here." She gestured around at the décor, the family photos. "His family is here, his friends are here, and he loves working at the store. You haven't been able to see it, because you two got off on the wrong foot this trip, but please, please just… watch him."

"Watch him what?" Elizabeth asked, frowning. "Watch him waste all that potential working retail while a woman and a job – a life – wait for him back home?" She shook her head. "I just can't."

"He _has_ a life," Bella said, quietly. Despite the softness of her voice her tone had become hard. "You just haven't seen it. And as for his potential, it's only wasted if he spends his time doing something he hates. He doesn't hate what he's doing. I'd venture a guess to say he loves it." She reached out to Elizabeth, whose head was still shaking, unwilling or unable to take Bella at her word. She took the older woman's hand. "Come and see. This Saturday, come to the store. Come and see what your son is doing."

Elizabeth fixed Bella with a stare. An intense, green-eyed stare that Bella felt in her toes. She was fairly confident that Elizabeth Masen was examining her soul.

"Do you usually argue with your friends' parents like this?" she asked. Though her poker face was incredible, Bella saw a glint of amusement shining through. Elizabeth was messing with her.

"I actually really want you to like me. I want you to think I'm polite and kind and funny and likeable." Bella shrugged. "I just want the two of you to resolve this more." She punctuated her statement by squeezing Elizabeth's hand.

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Saturday, then."

"Saturday."

The women grinned at each other, having reached a deeper understanding over a man they both loved. Bella stood, pulling Elizabeth with her.

"I should finish up the pies. I'm sure your son is occupying Henry for me."

"Yes, I expect he would be." Elizabeth smiled as she said it, as though she loved the idea of Edward spending time with the child.

"I'm glad we spoke," Bella said, "I'm more glad that you don't seem to hate me afterward." Elizabeth laughed.

"Anyone who cares enough about Edward to fight for him as you have is someone I couldn't possibly hate. I love my son, and I'm glad he has more people here to love him." Elizabeth smiled. "I'm glad we spoke as well."

"See you at the dinner table, Mrs. Masen," Bella said, turning to head back to the kitchen.

"Bella," Elizabeth called, causing Bella to stop and turn back, "call me Lizzie."

Bella grinned. "Thanks, Lizzie."

*

The dinner table had an extra leaf in it, making it just barely able to accommodate the ten of them plus Henry. When Bella set the pies on the cooling rack and headed for the dining room, however, she saw twelve places set and Henry's old high chair set up near the head of the table.

"Who else is coming?" she asked Esme.

Esme grinned like the big bad wolf, before shooting Bella another wink. "I got some surprising news recently, and it gave me some guest list inspiration."

"Esme… what did you do?" Bella asked, her tone laced with suspicion.

"Let's just say it's a surprise for my dear, darling daughter."

"Oh my God, you're alliterating, this cannot turn out well," Bella said, heading back to the kitchen to help Esme start moving the food out.

Esme just shrugged. "It's going to turn out fantastically for the rest of us," she said, lifting a tray full of rolls and dumping them into a dish.

Bella took that dish and the casserole dish containing the yams, and headed back to the table. When she returned to the kitchen, she almost ran smack into Edward.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Edward said.

"But if I'm not concussed, what incentive will I have to like you?" Bella raised an eyebrow and went to collect more food. Edward beat her to the counter, snatching four dishes, balancing them easily.

"I could think of some things," Edward said, grinning at her and waggling his eyebrows.

Bella slapped his arm, causing him to duck out of the way. "Crass. You are crass."

"I'm holding food, Ms. Swan!"

"Once again, difficulty stunt level bumps from two to six." Bella shrugged and started taking some of the dishes from his arms.

"I was unaware that hitting me is an Olympic sport," Edward deadpanned, moving the food away from her and heading for the dining room. Bella followed.

"I'm the current Gold medalist," she said, shooting Edward a smug look.

He rolled his eyes. "If emotional abuse counts, you've got competition," he said, gesturing with his head toward the living room.

Bella shook her head. "Give her some credit," Bella said, running a hand down his arm. "She's trying."

"One conversation and you're best friends. I'm feeling attacked and neglected."

"You're feeling full of it." Bella said, flicking Edward between the eyes. Edward snorted.

They finished putting the food out, with Henry running in to "help." He mostly stole rolls. The kid had his father's appetite. Right as Esme was about to call everyone into the dining room, the doorbell rang.

"Alice, my love, can you get that?" Esme asked sweetly.

Alice, who was pouring herself a large glass of chardonnay, looked up, surprised. "Who's here? Isn't this everyone?"

"Not quite," Esme said, grinning as Alice headed for the door.

When she opened it, she made some sort of strangled choking noise, and immediately went back to the kitchen for her wine glass.

Jasper and Dottie Whitlock came into the room, causing Bella to slap her hand over her mouth to hide her giggles. Edward was less discreet, letting loose a huge snort.

Alice walked back into the room with her wine glass and the bottle, chugging down the contents and then quickly refilling it. "Who finked?!" she asked, glaring around the room.

Bella and Edward were the only ones who knew. Bella couldn't figure out why she was looking at everyone else. And Bella hadn't finked, so had Edward? She looked at him with a raised brow, and he shrugged. _Huh_. So who dunnit?

Jasper shyly raised his hand, hanging his head.

"What the _hell_ , Jazzy! We agreed!" Alice screeched.

Dottie started giggling. "I overheard you two on the phone one night while we were at dinner. I texted Esme for the rest of the evening about how to properly punish you two for keeping this information to yourselves."

Jasper's face was in his hands, clearly defeated.

Alice just huffed. "There's nothing to tell yet. We don't even like each other."

Jasper's head popped up. "I like you."

Alice flushed a deep red that put Bella's blush to shame. "Oh," she said quietly. "Well… I suppose I enjoy you as well." She glanced around. "Can we maybe do this when my entire family and your mother aren't present?"

Jasper shrugged. "I don't particularly care who knows that I like you." He smiled lazily at her. "I also don't care who knows that I'm not going to be seein' anyone else for the foreseeable future."

Alice was trying to remain impassive, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Um," she said quietly, "me either."

"Well, okay then," Jasper said, heading over to Alice and taking her hand. "Happy Thanksgiving, Ali-Cat."

"Happy Thanksgiving," she said softly, staring at their interlocked hands. Emmett whistled. Alice shot him a glare.

"What?" he said, "Rose and I aren't the only power couple at the store anymore!"

"Emmett," Esme cut in, "you're forgetting that the power couple that birthed you owns the damn place." Carlisle let out a chuckle from his seat beside Charlie, who snorted.

"Oh yeah," he said, shrugging. "Can we eat now?"

"Turkey!" Henry yelled.

Bella reached over and scooped Henry up, giving his cheek a quick kiss and heading for the dining room. Emmett barreled past her and took his seat, grinning and reaching for the rolls.

"Emmett Cullen, could you set an example for your son, please?" Rosalie asked, using her Mom Voice.

"Daddy in twouble," Henry whispered to Bella, who suppressed her laughter.

"Yes he is." She set him in his high chair and took the seat between Edward and Alice, across from her father. Edward's hand under the table ended up resting on Bella's knee, causing Bella to flush.

"You alright, Bells?" her father asked. "You look overheated."

Bella, who had chosen that inopportune moment to take a sip of her wine, almost choked. Edward snickered. And Alice rolled her eyes. Bella shot them both a glare. "I'm fine, Dad."

Carlisle called everyone to order. "I'd like to thank everyone for making it out today. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what you're thankful for. I am thankful for good food, good company, and good work. I'm lucky enough to engage in all three throughout the year, thanks to all the people in this room. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!" They all raised their glasses with a chorus of "Happy Thanksgiving" all around, and a "Happy Turkey!" from Henry.

Bella turned to Alice and found her staring across the table at Jasper, who had begun talking animatedly with Carlisle. When she finally caught Alice's attention, she raised a brow and smirked.

"Later," Alice whispered. Bella just grinned. Good. She was going to grill Alice like a steak.

"So," Edward whispered, and Bella turned to see him staring at Alice, staring at Jasper, "that's different." He raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Five dollars says they're back to yelling at each other next week."

Bella let out a giggle. "It works for them."

"Someone for everyone," he said, his eyes drifting from Alice to Bella. He smiled softly at her and Bella felt her face heat up. His hand squeezed her knee, and she managed to grin. They turned their attentions to filling their plates and for a few long moments the only sounds at the table were sounds of enjoyment and in Emmett's case, vigorous chewing. Henry was making a mashed potato mountain, and Bella was watching him carefully in case he decided to pull a Krakatoa.

"Bella," Carlisle called, "how's school? Are you on break yet?"

Bella tore her eyes away from Henry's mini-Vesuvius and shook her head. "We had yesterday until tomorrow off, but Christmas break isn't until the twenty-third."

Carlisle chuckled. "I assume you gave your manager your schedule?" he asked. Everyone at the store knew that Edward hated scheduling because you could hear him swearing like a sailor in the offices for hours whenever he was making the new one. He was blissfully unaware though, because Bella told everyone they weren't allowed to make fun of him. It was pretty much the only time she heard him swear. Except of course when he was frustrated. Any kind of frustrated. The kind he was around Bella, especially.

"Her?" Edward said, scoffing. "I have her schedule through June."

"What?" Bella said, shrugging. "I want you all to have my graduation day off!"

"Oh, hon, we're going to have to close the store," Esme said.

Edward Sr. spoke up then. "What are you studying, Bella?"

"My girl's going to be a lawyer," Charlie said, beaming.

Edward Sr. leaned forward, interested. "What's your focus?"

"Family law," Bella said, taking another sip of her wine. She was getting a little nervous. This was more words than she'd ever heard Edward's father say.

"Mine was business," he said, smiling at her. "What's your plan for post grad?"

"Um, I was thinking of maybe joining an aid firm. Social work cases, defending juvenile cases." Bella shrugged. "It isn't flashy, but I got into this to help people." She looked over at Charlie and smiled. "Like my dad." Charlie grinned and Bella could swear that she saw some moisture in his eyes.

"Good for you," Edward Sr. said. "My pro-bono cases are some of my favorite times in the courtroom. The feeling of making a difference is incomparable."

Elizabeth had been watching the interaction with interest, and was now smiling softly at Bella. "That's a fine profession you're going into," she said.

"Thank you," said Bella. "I think so as well."

Edward was grinning when Bella turned back to him. She raised an eyebrow and tipped her head toward Elizabeth, smiling. Edward just twisted his mouth reluctantly in slight disbelief.

Carlisle and Esme devolved into a discussion of the local theater company's Shakespeare production with the parents, talking over the finer points and making plans to see the show while Charlie and the Masens were in town. Alice and Rosalie were talking about the fashion shipments that she'd just received from the warehouse. Jasper joined in, talking about some of the stuff they'd had to junk and asking Alice if she wanted it for her own designs. Alice blushed like crazy and accepted. Emmett was too busy stuffing himself to talk, little Henry proving himself to be his father's son by doing the exact same thing.

Which left Edward for Bella.

"Did you hear that Hozier is writing a new album?" he asked.

"Yes! I'm so excited I could explode." She took another bite of her dinner before she continued. "He's like this ancient forest tree who just takes human form and sometimes writes songs." She stole some of Edward's green beans.

"That or he's some kind of vampire," Edward said, grinning. "But his last album was awesome." He reached over and stole a bite of Bella's potatoes.

"Hey!"

"You took my beans, I take your potatoes," he said, shrugging.

Bella just rolled her eyes and snatched his roll off his plate. "Fair is fair, I suppose," she said, before eating half the roll in one bite.

Edward's mouth fell open. "Oh you are so going to pay for that," he said.

Bella just looked him square in the eye and ate the rest of his roll. Edward burst out laughing and started taking more of Bella's food. In retaliation, Bella downed Edward's wine glass. Pretty soon they were eating exclusively off the other's plate and giggling like five year olds.

"What do we even do with you two?" Esme asked, causing Bella and Edward to look up for the first time in several minutes.

"Love us?" Bella said.

"Cherish us?" Edward added.

"Give us presents and affection?" Bella threw in for good measure.

Carlisle was laughing, and Elizabeth and Edward Sr. looked amused. "Maybe we'll just lock you two in a room. Forever."

"They could lock me in a room with him," Dottie said, grinning salaciously. "I'd straighten him out."

Edward shuddered and shook his head. "Mrs. Whitlock, you're a married lady," he said.

"And Ma, that's despicable. Kid's my age." Jasper turned his attention away from Alice to look disgustedly at his mother.

"I think he'd benefit from some straightening out," Esme said, winking over at her sister, who laughed. Bella had started laughing when Dottie offered and was still laughing now, holding her sides as they started to cramp up.

"You just gonna let them take me?" Edward asked. He sounded appalled.

Bella shrugged and gasped in a breath to still her giggle fit. "Depends on the condition they'll return you in."

"Less than pristine," Dottie said, causing Esme to snort attractively and Rosalie to gasp.

Bella reached over and ran her fingers through Edward's hair, giving it a ruffle at the back. "Then I'm on the defense team," she said. "Gotta keep my bestie safe and sound."

"Thank you," he said, leaning into her hand.

Bella caught a glimpse of Esme and Dottie sharing a look, and she heard Elizabeth sigh.

Edward was smiling. Let them conspire, then. At least Edward was happy.

*

"Bella, get closer to Edward," Alice said, violently waving her hand to indicate the direction she meant.

Didn't have to tell Bella twice. She scooched closer to him, letting her nostrils fill with the sweet smell of his fabric softener and his soap. Charlie filled the gap on her other side. "Crazy girl wants a group picture of us after we all ate," he said. "We're all going to look gigantic."

Bella threw her father a look. "Okay, Heather, I'm sure she'll shop your stomach for you." Bella rolled her eyes over at Edward, who was looking down at his stomach with concern. "Oh, not you too!" she said. "You're being ridiculous. You look like the _David_ , for Christ sakes!" she whispered the last bit mostly to herself, but it didn't stop the people around her from snickering at it.

"You're still not in frame!" Alice said from her place by the tripod.

Edward wound his arm around Bella's waist, pulling her closer to him. Everyone else scrunched closer as well. Alice set the timer and then jumped in on Charlie's other side. They smiled, the shutter went off, and everyone dispersed as Alice went to check the photo. While the rest of the group had spaced themselves out considerably, Edward still had Bella in a vise, glued together at the waist. Bella glanced down at his hand on her waist and then back into his eyes, raising her brow.

"What? She might want more," he said, grinning down at her.

"You're incorrigible."

"You're drawing attention to it," he said. They were grinning at each other like the fools they were when they heard the click of the camera shutter and their heads snapped up to see Alice grinning behind the camera.

"I'm not even sorry," she said. "Come look at how cute it is!"

Bella and Edward rounded the tripod, and Alice showed them the group photo and then the candid snap of the two of them. The group shot was adorable, everyone looked amazing, and the boys' concerns about their figures were completely unfounded.

The shot of the two of them was perfect. The look in photo-Edward's eyes as he beamed at photo-Bella made her heart flutter uncontrollably like a coked-out butterfly was trapped in there. His hand was anchored at her waist, their bodies angled toward each other, and Bella's head was tipped back to smile up at Edward.

"Send that to me," Bella said, eyes never leaving the photo.

Alice nodded, plugging her phone into the camera and pushing far too many buttons.

"Me too," Edward said. He leaned over to watch Alice's button-pushing, eyes curious. Bella's phone dinged in her pocket, and she pulled it out to see a photo message from Alice. She grinned and opened it to see both shots in her messages. She started her own round of button tapping and Edward started to lean over her shoulder to snoop on what she was doing, but she swatted him away. His own phone dinged with the picture message and he was opening it when Bella finished what she was doing. Edward rolled his eyes and showed his phone to Bella.

 **bellmarieswan tagged you in a post!**

Bella grinned sheepishly. Edward pressed a button on his own phone and Bella's phone vibrated in her hand.

 **e.a.masen liked your post!**

Bella opened the notification to see her instagram post. It had multiples shots, with the simple caption "Thankful." There was a yellow heart emoji next to the word, and Bella grinned at her own subtlety. She'd only started using that particular color after her birthday, when Edward had given her the rose ring. It was now her go-to affection emoticon. First was the group shot that Alice had taken, then a photo of Bella with Billy, Jake, and Charlie, a snapshot of a Polaroid Alice had taken of them making silly faces, followed by a customer service team photo from last year's Christmas party. The next photo was of Bella with Renee and Phil last spring, and finally, the shot of her and Edward. She stared at it a little longer than she meant to, as the little notification numbers went up to signify her photo getting likes and comments. She hadn't noticed before, but you could see her little rose ring where her hand rested on Edward's chest. She smiled softly at her screen. Bella really liked that shot.

Edward cleared his throat, and Bella's head snapped up. He was smiling at her. He waggled his brows and Bella rolled her eyes. Their ability to have entire conversations sans words was only improving.

"Pie time!" Emmett yelled from the kitchen.

"Emmett Cullen you get away from that pie!" Esme yelled, followed by Henry's laughter.

"We should get in there," Bella said. She bit her lip, glancing away toward the kitchen where her innocent pies were probably being completely destroyed. When she glanced back at Edward, his eyes were focused on her lips, staring intently and looking conflicted. His mouth turned down into a small frown, and he reached up and pulled her lip free.

"You have to stop doing that," he said.

Bella nodded. "Right," she said. "I'll bleed and all."

Edward gave his head a small shake and his frown disappeared. He blinked a few times, and then let out a small chuckle. "Right," he said. "The kitchen, then?"

"Yeah," she said. As she watched him walk away, she wondered if maybe she should bite her lip a little more often.

*

Later that night, Alice and Bella were sitting cross legged on Alice's giant bed, Alice painting Bella's nails. She was doing Christmas colors, at Bella's request. Thanksgiving was over, after all.

"So," Bella said, inspecting the tiny tree that Alice had sketched on her ring finger.

"So?" Alice asked, bent over Bella's opposite hand.

"So, Jasper?" Bella grinned and wagged her brows at Alice as she flushed a deep pink.

"Jasper." Alice capped the nail polish and blew gently on Bella's nails.

"How is it going?" Bella asked. "I've only ever overheard the fighting." She resisted the urge to run her hand through her hair and took over nail-blowing duties.

Alice went a very un-Alice shade of red. "Yeah, we uh, disagree on a lot."

"Like what?"

Alice shrugged. "Mostly store stuff," she said. "Like why my deliveries are always late," she rolled her eyes, "or whenever he undermines my position."

"He what?!" Bella yelped, reaching for her phone. She was going to give Jasper a piece of her mind. "He can't! You're the owners' kid, for God's sake!" She was beginning to type, being extra careful with her wet nails, but her phone was suddenly ripped from her hands.

"Knock it off," Alice said. She was blushing again. "It's not like that."

"What is it like?" Bella asked, brow raised.

Alice sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "He… he saw some of my designs." She smiled softly at her hands, fingers twisting each other. "Jazz says, 'Why the hell are you still here anyway?'" Alice said, doing her best at imitating Jasper's Southern drawl. "Whenever I get really upset with him over the warehouse and the way he talks to his guys and the look I saw him giving Jess's ass once – I mean, I looked too, we're only human –" Bella let out a snort as Alice waggled her eyebrows, "he reminds me that if I were doing what I was meant to, I'd never have to deal with any of that."

Bella beamed. She held her hand out for her phone, and Alice handed it over reluctantly. She fired off a simple text – _Good job, J_ – and returned her attention to her roommate.

"Maybe it's time we started thinking of the future," she said.

"What, because of a boy?" Alice scoffed.

Bella shook her head. "Because of you, Ali." She reached out and took her best friend's hand in her own, being sure to keep the polish off the duvet. "You've been designing and using me as your model and running your hands longingly over fabric catalogues for years." She squeezed Alice's hand, causing the other girl to look up, eyes uncertain. "You can do this, Alice."

Alice smiled, her eyes a bit watery. She gave a quick sniff and gurgled out a giggle. "I don't think the parentals are ready to lose us both yet," she said. "And I plan to be very busy using my brand new exclusive boyfriend as a model for a while." She grinned. "But I'm going to do this. I'm going into design, I'm going to have my own boutique, and when you marry my cousin, I'm going to make your dress."

Bella burst into hysterics, quickly followed by Alice. "Boyfriend, huh?" she asked, when she was able to calm down a bit.

"Yeah," she said, smiling dreamily. "That's okay, right?" she asked, eyes suddenly panicked.

Bella rammed into Alice with her shoulder. "Well, if I can't have sex, at least one of us should."

Alice pretended to gag. "Cousin, Bella! My cousin!"

"Metaphorical sex, Alice! Metaphorical! You get the actual!" Bella grumbled.

"I do, in fact. And often. And how," Alice replied, with a far-off look in her eye.

Bella groaned. "Just never, ever, tell me about it."

"Deal," Alice said.

They spent the rest of the evening discussing plans for Bella's future law firm and for Alice's boutique. They designed them, talked about the people Alice was going to dress, the people Bella would help, the outfits Alice would design for Bella to wear while she helped them. When they got bored of that they planned their imaginary weddings, and made their unspoken vow to be each other's maids of honor a bit more spoken.

When Bella woke up in Alice's giant bed, oddly well-rested and filled with a strong sense of hopeful optimism, she realized that she was most thankful for her small, energetic friend this year.

*

 **A/N: Drop me those reviews! What's the word? (Please don't say bird.)**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**A/N: Hello hello! Just a normal day for our crew here at Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium. Who's excited? You excited? I'm excited!**

 **This one goes out to my Twilight sisters, for their continued support. I love you guys!**

 **Disclaimer: I own an excellent ugly Christmas sweater, but definitely not Twilight.**

 *****

Esme Cullen insisted on one thing when she opened the doors of Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium with her husband nine years ago. Edward could clearly remember that she cut the ribbon, turned to Carlisle, and yelled, "We are _never_ participating in Black Friday!"

So here they were, on Black Friday, prepping for some major damage. The store was dark and quiet when Edward and Bella came in from the back entrance. He'd volunteered to be the supervisor on site for Decorating Day, part two. The day after Halloween, Bella and Alice had run around the store removing Halloween décor and adding small festive fall touches. But today was going to be so over-the-top that the store was actually closed for the entire day. At least, that's how Bella described it. Edward knew that Esme and Carlisle just didn't want to deal with the constant stream of "Are you having a sale today?".

Bella had taken the initiative to gather their volunteer decorators, who weren't really volunteers at all, because Esme and Carlisle were paying them. She'd acquired around ten employees who were all ready and willing to show up on a day off to transform the store into a Christmas wonderland.

Bella was practically vibrating with excitement. She'd shown up at his apartment door at six AM in a Christmas sweater and jeans, holding the ugliest, most ridiculous Christmas sweater he'd ever seen out to him as if it were a gift. It technically was, but it seemed more like a punishment to Edward. The sleeves were candy cane striped and the trunk was bright green, adorned with Saint Nick's beaming face, beard full of Christmas lights. The lights actually lit up when Bella pressed a button inside the sleeve. The look on her face when he came back out of the room modeling the sweater was worth wearing it, though.

"Why isn't yours obnoxious?" he'd asked.

Bella just grinned cheekily and lifted her hands over her head, pulling a glittering golden star from her sleeve. The effect of the green sweater and the ornament design in the yarn lent her the look of an (admittedly very sexy, to Edward at least) impressively small Christmas tree.

"I stand corrected," Edward said, shaking his head slowly. "That's incredibly obnoxious."

Bella rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I aim to please."

Obviously, they were the first ones in the store. Despite the fact that the store had the exact same decorations every year, Bella had apparently come up with new ways to arrange them once a week the entire month of December for the past four of those years. And today would be no exception. She had one of the forklift guys coming, and several customer service reps and salespeople. Edward turned the lights to half once they got to the warehouse, and Bella immediately started sizing up the decorations she'd assembled back in October.

"Should I be doing something?" Edward asked.

Bella handed him a pile of tree skirts. "Separate by color, please?"

"Yes ma'am."

The worked in silence for a while, sorting the decorations and dancing around each other. Edward relished the time with her, enjoying her small noises of concentration and taking any excuse to lift her up for high up items, despite the stepladder hanging out by its lonesome in the corner. Why use that when Edward had the opportunity to take Bella by the waist and hoist her up, causing her to giggle incessantly. Lord, she was cute.

When their backup arrived Bella was actually perched on Edward's shoulders, adjusting a star atop one of the seven Christmas trees. She was laughing loudly, trying to get Edward to get closer to the tree, despite the fact that if he edged any closer to the monstrous thing he'd be waist deep in fake pine needles.

"Edward, you have to get closer," she said, giggling. "I can't reach the top!"

"Bella, if I get any closer you will have a best friend with a face full of plastic green needles," Edward grunted as he shifted Bella, causing her to squeak. "I will be much less pretty, and you might ditch me for Laurent."

"Please ditch him for me!" Laurent called, causing Edward to whip around. Luckily he had the foresight to grip Bella's calves, so she stayed securely on top of his shoulders, but she did shriek like a banshee.

Edward was grinning up at her as she continued screaming when he heard an electronic click. Alice was standing among the volunteers gathering decorations in their arms, her cell phone aimed at Bella and Edward.

"That's going in the slideshow," she said, appraising the photo with a smug smile.

Bella tapped Edward's shoulder and he swung her down, catching her bridal style before setting her on her feet. "You cannot put that in there," Bella said. "I'm screaming my head off and I'm in last year's sweater." She sighed as Alice held the phone away from her, protecting the photo.

"And?" Alice said. "It's also cute. And hilarious. I'm keeping it."

Bella just sighed and returned to the tree. Edward shot Alice a wink, causing her to laugh, before joining Bella. "Time for the ladder?" he asked.

Bella's face scrunched up. "Yeah, I guess so. I'll hold it steady and you go up, right?" She grinned over at him.

"And let you shake it? Hell no," Edward said, scoffing. Bella began to pout. "Oh no, you cut that out."

"But I'm scared of heights!" Bella whined.

Edward rolled him eyes. "You were just on my shoulders!"

"You are much more reliable than a ladder."

Edward grinned. "And I'll be holding the ladder, so it all evens out."

Bella just sighed and pointed Edward toward the ladder. Once the star was perfectly in place, with no ladder shaking, Bella snapped into organizational mode.

"Okay, Laurent, I need you and Marcus to run forklift, and here's a map of where the two fifteen footers go," she said, handing Laurent a piece of paper, and shooing him and the ever-stoic Marcus toward the forklift. "Jess, take Lauren and Seth and the cherry picker, and those boxes of lights and garland. Get the balconies, the chandelier, and the higher shelves, here's your map." She shot Jess a wink as she mouthed an emphatic "thank you" to Bella as she handed her the map. "Alice, you're on the smaller trees and animatronics, here's the map, take Leah and Tyler." Alice nodded and began barking orders like a drill sergeant. "And Edward, myself, Jake, and Ben are going to get small details and final touches." She unfolded her own map and bit down on her lip as she studied the paper. She looked up and realized that most people were still huddled. "Well? Get moving!"

Everyone dispersed and set about their tasks, team leaders with maps diligently in their clutches.

"Okay, we can actually just chill for like an hour until there's stuff to check." Bella told her little assemblage before she skipped over to the warehouse office where Esme sometimes worked to keep her eye on her team.

"Oh holy hell, what is she doing?" Ben asked, turning to Jake. "Why is she headed for the office?" Jake just shrugged and cocked a brow toward Edward.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I have no control over her. I don't want any control over her." Edward could think of a few things he'd like control over when he was with Bella, but Decorating Day he left entirely in her hands.

"Aren't you her boss?" Ben asked. Jake let out a huge snort just as Bella reappeared, wheeling two office chairs and grinning like a loon.

"Who's ready to freaking rage?!" she asked, shoving a chair hard at Jake. "Set the pins, Yakko." Jake caught the chair before passing it to Ben. He then took a running leap at a pallet racking, scaling it like a monkey.

"Jacob, what the _hell_!" Edward yelled, terrified. "Get down!"

"He does this all the time," Bella said, waving Edward's protests away with a dismissive hand.

"And that makes it less horrifyingly dangerous?" Edward raised one brow at Bella.

"No, but at least there's only an eighteen percent chance he'll die."

Jake dropped a box down onto the floor before swinging down, managing to only sway a little before righting himself. "Don't worry, boss man," he said. "I only broke a pinky toe that one time and the nurse at the emergency room was hot."

Edward was sure that Jake's only concern was how hot the nurse was, but he was supposed to be in charge and if Jake died he was fairly sure he'd be in some trouble. He just shook his head at Jacob's comment and went to inspect the box he'd tossed down. Bella joined him as he opened the flap, and she immediately started throwing the contents back to Jake.

They were giant, foam rubber bowling pins.

Jake was setting them up in standard formation and Edward turned to Bella and raised a brow.

"I got them two years ago. Every once in a while when it's dead we pull them out," she said, shrugging.

"And do what?"

"Bowl."

"What do you mean, you bowl?" Edward asked. He was gazing in the direction of the pins in confusion.

"Jake!" she yelled, "Get over here and push me!"

And, much to Edward's surprise, Jake complied. Bella sat in one of the office chairs and then Jake shoved her toward the pins. Her hair whipped behind her and she let out one of her truly gut-wrenching laughs as she hurtled like a cannonball – or rather, bowling ball. In true Bella fashion, she reached out her arms to force a strike as she collided with the pins.

"So that has to be cheating," Ben said. "Because a bowling ball just doesn't have arms."

"I can't cheat at my own game, it's impossible," Bella called out as she righted the pins.

"Well, that's a pretty hefty bias."

"I also always win."

"So that's not only a bias, but also a rigged game," Edward interjected.

"Well, my mom used to tell me that anyone under the age of fifteen wasn't allowed to purchase Park Place, and I'm taking it out on you personally," Bella said, shoving the wheelie chair back at Edward. "Have a seat, Boss."

Edward snorted. "You're not serious?"

"As a heart attack," she said, grinning. Goddammit. She _knew_ that he was incapable of refusing that stupid grin.

Grumbling, he lowered himself into the chair. "This is incredibly degrading," he said. "How am I supposed to expect Jake to respect me if he has the image of me sitting cross-legged in an office chair etched into his brain?"

"I might respect you more, dude," Jake said from his place by the pins.

"Why aren't you worried about me respecting you?" Bella asked. She had shifted behind him, poised to shove him at Jake. Her voice was disturbingly close to his ear, and when he turned his head to look at her, her sweet, smiling face was inches from his. _Sweet Jesus, she better push me before I make a very public scene in this warehouse._

Bella flushed like she could read his thoughts, but she still managed to wink at him. Crazy woman was practically asking to get jumped on Decorating Day of all days. "You have way too many ridiculous images of me to expect your respect. I believe some involve dancing." He grinned at her and enjoyed the way her breath hitched.

"You gonna throw him, or what?!" Jake yelled, effectively snapping them both out of it. Edward shot him a grateful grin and Jake rolled his eyes. He wondered briefly if Jake had picked that up from Bella or if Bella had picked it up from Jake, before he was gunning toward the giant pins, air whipping around him. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself not to let out an extremely emasculating shriek, before he felt giant pins assaulting him from all sides. "Strike!" Jake screamed, causing Edward's head to shoot up in alarm. He got a strike? Holy hell.

"I am the bowling champion!" Bella screamed, and Edward turned to see her jumping up and down like a lunatic, pumping her fist into the air.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Edward asked.

"No, you're a bowling ball. They don't praise the bowling ball on ESPN eight."

"I'm wounded." Edward slapped one hand to his heart and the other pushed the chair toward Jake, who deftly passed it to Ben.

Bella rolled her eyes as Edward approached. "You're always wounded. You're a giant baby."

Edward cocked one eyebrow and leaned closer to her. "That says some very strange things about your preferences."

Bella scoffed and slapped Edward's arm right as Ben went sailing into the pins.

"Jake, your aim sucks!" he yelled, looking at the three pins still standing.

"Whatever, man, Bella got them all!"

"Bella _cheated_ , dude!"

Edward smirked at Bella's offended gasp and snagged her wrist before she could run at Ben and eventually hurt herself.

"You take that back!" she yelled.

"You quit cheating, and I'll take it back!"

"Whoa," came a small voice from the warehouse entrance. "Should I come back?"

Edward looked over and saw Angela at the warehouse entrance. Then he glanced back at the scene she must be witnessing. Jake was on the ground, laughing his ass off at Ben, who was making a very childish "neener-neener" face at Bella, complete with hand gestures, and Bella herself was tugging at her wrist trapped in Edward's hand and yelling various obscenities at Ben.

"Hey Angela," he said, trying to pitch his voice loudly enough that she'd hear without screaming at her. He'd long ago figured out that Angela was the calming presence to the general feeling of chaos at the service desk, and it now appeared that her influence had spread to sales through Ben. Ben's hands immediately fell to his sides when he heard his girlfriend's name and he turned to smile at Angela and Maggie, a false look of innocence plastered all over him. Bella stopped tugging on Edward's hand and Jake kept right on laughing, but he did manage to stand up.

"Hi," she said, giving Ben an incredulous look, as though she didn't believe his innocence for a moment. "What's going on, hon?" She hitched Maggie higher on her hip and the baby let out a small giggle.

"We were bowling," Ben said.

"Care to elaborate?" she asked, cocking one eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"Well…" Ben glanced at Jake, who just started laughing harder. "Bella was chea-"

"I was _not,_ " Bella interrupted, her voice soft but full of venom. She folded her arms across her chest in a huff, grumbling about Ben under her breath.

Angela turned on Edward. "Were you going to do anything about it?"

"About what?" Edward's eyebrows shot up. What did _he_ do?

"Bella cheating."

"I didn't cheat!"

"Well, uh, no." Edward rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "She was on my team."

"I see."

"I did try to stop her from mangling your boyfriend, though." Edward grinned down at Angela and waggled his eyebrows. "That has to give me some brownie points, right?"

"Babe, stop intimidating your boss." Ben let out a snort. "One of these days he's going to remember that he's the one in charge and you'll get in trouble."

"I'm in _charge_?!" Edward asked, his voice thick with shock.

Angela laughed before heading over to Bella. "Come on Bells, get over it. Maggie wants to play with Auntie Bella." Bella attempted to stand her ground, pouting and glaring at Ben, but Angela dangled Maggie directly in Bella's eye line and her pout started twitching, as though she were trying desperately not to smile. She fought for a few more seconds, but then Maggie started babbling and she broke down. She grinned and cooed at the baby before snatching her out of Angela's hands and nuzzling her small nose with her own. Edward's chest constricted.

"You fight dirty."

"Babies tend to gather filth, I'll admit to that." Angela headed over to where Ben was standing with his hands clasped behind his back, smiling benignly. "As for you, we brought lunch. I just came back to let you know that it'll be in the fridge for you whenever Bella stops bowling and being the glitter dictator today."

"I resent that comment, yes I do, yes I do," Bella said in a soft tone to Maggie, although her words were obviously meant for Angela. "If anything Auntie Bella is the Christmas Comrade. She believes in equal pay for equal work yes she does." She blew a raspberry onto Maggie's small stomach, and the baby giggled.

It was getting hard to do this, Edward noticed. It was so hard to watch her like this and maintain the façade that she was his friend. She wasn't just his friend. He was rapidly realizing – but refusing to say, even in his head – that he was hopelessly, wretchedly in love with her. Of course he loved her, he told her all the time, and she told him the same, but this was different. He watched her with the baby, and he thought about what it would be like if it were their baby. He watched her sail into the bowling pins, laughing all the while, and he wanted to be there for every single one of her laughs. He watched her gazing softly at Ben and Angela, so obviously happy for her friends, and more and more of his heart belonged to her with each passing second.

Her huge heart, so full of love to give, and she gave some of it to him. She chose him, she loved him, and he was in love with her. Was she in love with him? He wasn't sure that the feeling breaking his ribcage could ever be matched by anyone, and he hadn't been aware that he himself was capable of feeling this way. But if she could even return a fraction of the love he felt for her, he'd find a way to make it work. Although, this was of course, hypothetical, because Edward was decidedly _not_ going to say or think that he was _in_ love with Bella.

It was so hard, to see her standing there, with her waist that fit perfectly in his hands, and her hair that was so soft under his fingers, and her lips that spoke with his favorite voice and that kissed him like he'd never been kissed in his life, and her heart that made his world turn just by beating, and to do… nothing. It was helplessness. He'd thought it was an insult when Bella had once described their situation as a way to make her feel as helpless as possible. But she had been right. Edward had never felt so powerless in his life.

He had to do something, right now.

"Do you think it's time to start checking on what everyone else is doing?" he asked, desperate to exit his own head and get moving. He couldn't think like that. They both still worked here, and unless they did something rash and inadvisable, there wasn't any way to maintain their jobs and be together yet. So he needed to calm down.

Bella sighed and handed Maggie back to Angela. "Yeah, I guess," she said, before turning back to Jake, who was discussing the best speed to throw someone at the pins with Ben. "Can you pack those up? I don't want the forklift guys to run them over."

They spent the next few minutes saying goodbye to Angela and Maggie and cleaning up the pins that had gotten thrown all over the warehouse with the force of Ben's frame. When they walked out of the warehouse and onto the sales floor, Edward almost had a heart attack.

"The entire place looks like Buddy the Elf sleeps here," he managed to choke out over his shock.

When he glanced down at Bella, she was beaming. "It's great, right? I decided to focus on the snow this year."

And she had. There were blankets of felt snow all across each banister, the tops of shelves, the balconies, with lights twinkling in between. The chandelier had what had to be a hundred crystal snowflakes hanging from it, the lights catching them and making prisms that shifted across the walls and merchandise. Lauren and Jess were still on the cherry picker, hanging more. Well, Lauren was hanging them. Jessica seemed to be watching the muscles in Lauren's arms strain as she reached up, her eyes slightly glazed over.

"Hey Jess!" Bella called, snapping her out of it. "Don't forget the icicles!"

"Of course not Il Duce!" Jessica rolled her eyes so hard that Edward could see it from where they were standing at least a dozen feet away.

"It seems a little unfair of her to call you Il Duce." Edward was frowning up at Jessica, who was unpacking icicles from a box.

"You interrupt her ogling. See what happens."

"Really?"

"She'll start calling us Jessie and James." Bella just shrugged and headed over toward where the beeping of the forklift was coming from.

"That seems more than a little harsh." Edward rushed to catch up, while Ben and Jake went to help Seth. "I mean, come on!"

Bella laughed. "Don't worry, I'm James, you get to be Jessie."

"That's horrific."

"And you're a ginger, so at least it's accurate." Bella shot him a wink right as they reached the forklift. "Marcus, my darling dear, look at that tree! It's marvelous! You sure I can't buy you dinner?" Bella batted her lashes up at Marcus in the forklift, who looked incredibly uncomfortable. Edward tried to reign in his gut reaction to be jealous, knowing that Bella and the rest of the girls loved to tease Marcus like this. He was mostly successful.

"I'm alright, thank you," he said softly, looking anywhere but directly at her. Laurent was holding in giggles on the other side of the forklift.

"Well, okay, I'll just drown my sorrows in a bottle of red later," she sighed, her tone wistful. She regained her usual tone and then continued, "Don't forget the flocking! I want this place to look like a blizzard passed through."

Marcus and Laurent nodded while Bella started rearranging the decorations and boxes beneath and around the massive tree. Above her the boys were standing (spectacularly illegally, Edward tried and failed not to notice) on top of the forklift spraying cans of flocking on the huge arboreal beast.

"Why must you always torture poor Marcus?" Edward asked her, helping her move a giant, elaborately-wrapped box out of the way.

Bella shrugged. "Easy target?"

"I'm an easy target," Edward mumbled under his breath, "Practically have a giant bulls-eye on my forehead."

Bella let out a giggle and turned to him, both of them hunched over under the tree, faces inches apart. "It's actually more of a neon sign that says 'Bella' on it," she said, before grinning at him. "But I'm very good at ignoring it for the time being."

"The time being is starting to feel like forever," Edward said, his voice low to avoid being overheard by the men endangering their lives on the forklift.

Bella offered a sad half smile. "It won't be," she said, "but barring someone hitting Emmett very hard on the head, or Carlisle and Esme deciding to change the policy, or a miraculous time-jump to when we're married, time being lasts a bit longer." She shrugged.

"Did you just say when we're married?"

"Does that scare you?" Bella's eyebrow quirked up, and she frowned a little.

"No." Edward knew that. It definitely did not scare him. Set his heart racing, his ears burning, and his mind planning, but it definitely didn't scare him.

Bella scoffed. "Scares the hell out of me," she said. "I didn't exactly have the greatest role models. And yet, whenever I think about where I'm going, it seems like all paths lead to you. And most paths look like a friggin' aisle." She shook her head. "Not that I'm trying to completely freak you out."

"I'm not freaked out, and I'm not scared."

Edward looked at her, really looked at her, and he could see it so clearly. The details fuzzed, but the picture was clear. Bella, striding toward him, decked out in white, practically running down the aisle in her haste to reach him. He wanted it.

"Okay?" she asked.

"Okay." He nodded. "More than that."

She smiled and Edward didn't even notice his legs cramping up from crouching for so long.

Oh yeah, he was screwed.

She dragged him out from under the tree and they went around the store, adjusting twinkle lights and snow, moving boxes and elves and reindeer and candy canes all around the sales floor.

They stopped Seth and Jake from killing each other over the placement of the North Pole, and decided to make sure that Alice and Leah weren't messing with Tyler too much.

"Tyler!" Alice said when Bella asked if they were picking on their teammate, "I'm not harassing you, am I?" Her arms were folded across her chest and she was pouting, effectively altering Tyler's answer from his original "Yes."

"Ye-No. Not at all," he said, before looking down at his feet.

Bella chuckled. "Come on, Ty. Fight the pout."

"Okay, yeah, she and Leah have been speculating on my love life since we got here," he blurted out on a gust of air, before backing up several steps away from Alice and Leah.

"Snitch!" Leah yelled.

"Wait a minute, I don't answer to either of you," Alice pointed out. "Why do I care? Leah, let's get these lights up, and then we can try to set Tyler up with Jess!"

She took Leah's arm in her own and then headed down the aisle, Tyler chasing after them screaming, "No! I'd get eaten alive!"

"God, I'm so glad I volunteered for this," Edward said, staring after his cousin with what must have been a goofy grin.

"Me too." When he looked back at Bella he saw that she had been watching him watch Alice, and her cheeks flushed red at the same time that his ears got warm. Bella smiled shyly, her eyes downcast and her hand trailing through her hair. Edward reached up and took a lock of her hair before tugging it lightly. Bella relocated her eyes to his, causing his heart to stop for a few beats, before her smile widened and she said, "Come on, let's make sure they don't sic Jess on him."

"Lead the way," he said.

He was planning to follow her lead wherever and whenever for a very, very long time.

*

Once the store was sufficiently flocked, and Bella was satisfied, the team headed out to the loading dock to put away the equipment, putting on coats and scarves and gloves as they went.

To find the entire place coated in a thick blanket of snow.

"What in the _hell_?" Seth asked.

"This was totally not in the forecast," Jessica said, patting her hair protectively.

"Told you," chimed Alice, to nobody in particular.

" _Yes_!" Bella shouted. She ran out into the slush, immediately gathering a handful of frost. "Okay, I got Seth!"

Jake was halfway between making a slushball as he shouted, "Fine, Judas, I have Edward!"

They kept calling out names as Edward looked around, confused.

"Get over here and make some snowballs, Boss!" Jake said, waving him over.

"What are we doing?" Edward asked.

"Snowball fight," Lauren said, rolling her eyes. "Because we're five."

"Lauren, has anyone ever told you that being a buzzkill ages you forty five years?"

"Laurent, has anyone told you that if Marcus ran you over with the forklift it would be an improvement?"

"I knew taking L squared was a bad idea," Jake said, shaking his head.

"Five minutes to make forts," Bella called out across the dock. Everyone started scrambling around, piling up snow, much to Edward's intense surprise.

"Get down, Boss!" Ben yelled, gathering together multiple snowballs.

They all moved frantically around in the snow, building up snow forts and making snowball reserves, until suddenly, and coldly, a snowball slammed into the back of Edward's head as he knelt for more snow. He yelped and whirled around, snowball in hand, only to drop it when he saw Bella standing above him, with an armload of snowballs and a huge grin on her face. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold and her eyes were bright and excited. The tip of her nose was a rosy color, and her hair flowed wildly out from her beanie.

He was staring at her, wild and free and happy, and he felt like the Grinch when his heart grew three sizes, only his heart was full already, so the growth threatened to split his chest.

Bella's grin fell when she noticed his expression. "What?" she asked, her mouth turning up at one corner.

"Nothing," he said, catching her by the ankle and pulling her down next to him, causing her snowballs to fly all around them.

Only it wasn't nothing. There, with their coworkers flinging snow and hurling insults, snow flying everywhere, and small flakes falling down around them, Edward knew one thing for a fact. One thing that he knew would change everything, that would make his life so much better, and would make the current situation so much worse. He knew what he had tried to deny was irreparably, wholly, true.

He, Edward Masen, was so hopelessly _in love_ with Bella Swan that his heartbeat, as she lay next to him, giggling in the snow, probably registered on the Richter Scale.

*

 **A/N: Ah, yes, just a normal day where you admit to yourself that you're in love with your best friend. Who hasn't had those days? Let me know your thoughts! Some of you have my blog, shoot me a message! Love you guys!**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**A/N: Happy birthday to me, here's chapter seventeen, this is the last one... before we all go SHRIEK! In other news, this really is the last chapter before what I've decided to call "Twistmas". So, there's that. And it truly is my birthday today (Thursday, the 25th)! Enjoy this extra-long behemoth, Bella had a lot of shit to say.**

 **This one is for my twiwife, who gives me support and endless praise because I am a validation junkie.**

 **Disclaimer: I own a brand new party dress to celebrate my bestie's nuptials, but I do not own Twilight.**

*

This was the morning that would not end. Bella was opening with Jane, who could literally not stop talking about how slighted she felt by missing the impromptu snowball fight. Never mind that she _could_ have volunteered to assist the decorating, but had said, "Fuck that!""God, and I bet Edward looked _so_ good covered in snow like that. He is _such_ a hunk, how do you stand to be around him without jumping him? I'm about to and I spend like, a sixteenth of the time you spend with him," she continued rambling, but Bella decided to stop listening and ponder the answer to Jane's question.

How did she manage not to jump Edward? It was simple, really. She knew that jumping Edward was a horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad idea. While she knew that Edward was probably it for her, she still couldn't be sure that she was it for him. It seemed entirely to good to be true that a smart, funny, fun, attractive guy like Edward, who was related to her friends, her roommate, who was her best friend, could not possibly find anyone better than Bella. She was just herself: completely average. Sure, she had extraordinary friends, and sure she was great at her job, and she was aware that she wasn't too difficult to look at, but she wasn't special.

Edward was special. He was kind, and took excellent care of everyone around him, Bella especially. He was so smart, and so motivated to help Carlisle and Esme. He and Alice had been tinkering around the website for the store, and he'd come up with a few ad campaigns that had really taken off, if the extra crowded sales floor was any indicator. He had amazing taste in movies and music and he participated in her idiotic dance parties. He indulged her every stupid whim, and she couldn't believe he agreed to half the ridiculous things she wanted to do. If she wanted to drive around at two AM with Jake to find tacos for her deep study sessions, he drove so that she and Jake could fight over music and hang out of his windows. If she wanted to go square dancing with Alice and Jasper, he agreed to be designated driver (and her designated dance partner). If she wanted to binge watch _Stranger Things_ , he got the Christmas lights and the Eggos. There seemed to be no end to Edward's patience for Bella's desires. Bella wanted nothing more than to find a way to reward him for his dedication, and she could think of quite a few things she could do that might prove satisfactory.

But "seemed to be no end" and "is no end" were two very different things, a fact of which Bella was well aware. When they'd started this whole "friends" thing, Bella had suggested a few months, knowing that her feelings for him wouldn't change. She had been wrong. They'd changed, all right. They were infinitely stronger. When she'd offered to quit her job, she thought that maybe Edward could be something special, but now she knew better than she knew anything else; that she sky was blue, that the grass was green, that the sunlight was warm. And it terrified her. She wasn't sure she could do it anymore, wasn't sure she'd survive it if… if something didn't go to plan. He'd told her he wasn't scared or freaked out, but she was. She was both. She couldn't stand it if he weren't in her life.

So, that was how she kept from jumping him. Pure, unadulterated fear.

"Oh, hey, boss," she heard Jane coo, breaking her out of her reverie. Bella had the morning shift and Edward was closing today with Leah. When she looked up they were striding in, Edward holding a coffee cup and Leah with her standard green juice thing that Bella couldn't understand ever wanting to drink. He looked amazing, as per usual. His slacks were navy and fit him extremely well, and he had rolled the sleeves of his button down up to the elbows. Since starting, he'd gotten more and more lax on his dressing, leaving the suits mostly unused, and while Bella mourned for Edward in a suit, she liked business casual Edward just as much.

"Hello, Leah," Leah grumbled to herself, "Nice to see you, how was your morning?"

"Morning Bella," Edward said, grinning at her. She shot him a smile before turning to Leah.

"Good morning, Leah. How's your head?" Bella smirked at her coworker, who grimaced and took a long pull of her kale-spinach-wheatgrass-grossness smoothie. Bella had received several snapchats of Leah out with her friends last night. They were barely coherent, music-filled videos of flailing limbs and cups full of bright liquid. She bet that Leah was feeling it today. "Hey Jane, this one's for Mr. Banner!" she said, tossing a book toward Jane, knowing she'd miss the catch. She always missed the catch. The book slammed onto the counter, making a loud thud right by Leah.

"You're the devil," she said, putting her fingers up to her temples.

"You and Alice seem to have a consensus on that," Bella said, grinning. "Anyway, not much going on here," she continued. "Although that book really is for Mr. Banner. The inscription is a hundred years old and it's a love poem that the original owner wrote his wife. Banner says he's going to use it to propose to Mr. Greene." Bella smiled at the thought. Being proposed to with literature was pretty romantic in her book… pun intended.

"No way," Leah said, "He's finally going to do it?"

Bella shrugged. "He says he is, anyway."

The entire time they'd been standing there discussing Mr. Banner, Jane had been ogling Edward while he did the inventory check in the holds room. While Bella herself could admit that the view was very nice, it was pissing her off a bit. Leah followed Bella's eye line to Jane, and Jane's to Edward's ass, and she chuckled lowly. "Hey Jane," she said, "head to lunch, yeah?" Bella shot Leah a grateful glance as Jane quickly put her stuff away to head out.

"Edward," she called, her voice saccharine, "Do you want anything?" She put the emphasis on "want" and shoved her chest out like some weird puffed up penguin.

Edward reappeared at the entrance to the back, shaking his head. "I think I'm good, Jane. Bella made chicken cordon bleu last night and I cajoled her into saving some for lunch." He looked over at Bella and smiled that stupid crooked smile and damn it all if she didn't stop breathing, just like always. One might think she'd have gotten used to it, but no, she still had no control over herself when he smiled. "You did actually save some, right, because I think I might die if I have to go get fast food after dreaming about home cooking."

Bella rolled her eyes. "You are always so dramatic. Yes, I saved it," she said, pointing her thumb back towards the break room. "It's in the fridge."

"You're an angel," he said.

"Leah and Ali would disagree with you on that," Bella said, chuckling.

Jane let out an exasperated noise and headed out from behind the desk. "Whatever, I'm going now!" she said, waving a dismissive hand over at Edward and Bella, who barely caught the gesture because Edward was giving her that look again, and she couldn't really focus on anything external when he was looking at her like she was a meal.

They worked normally after that, Bella taking her lunch right after Jane, Leah after her. Jane, Bella, and Edward were all manning the counter, helping customers when Edward's head popped up.

"What?" Bella asked.

"She's here," he said, searching through the customers, eyes darting around.

"Who's here?"

"My mother," Edward said, still glancing around. "I can feel it. The air feels thick with judgement and Eau des Merveilles."

"So dramatic," Bella muttered as she noticed Esme heading toward the desk with a stack of papers under her arm. "Hey Esme, what's up?"

"I need my nephew to add these to the website." She flagged down Edward from his scouring of the store. "Come here, Edward, I want to pick your brain on this." He took one last look around the store before joining Esme at the counter, going over the sales lists and making suggestions as to how to market them.

He and Esme were laughing about something when Bella spotted her. Elizabeth Masen was in the store, watching her son work with a soft smile on her face. Her eyes found Bella's, and the women shared a nod. Bella hadn't been totally sure that she would come, but she was glad that his mother would finally see Edward in his element.

"Have you thought about social media?" Bella heard Edward ask.

"Well, yes, but we'd have to get one of those social media people and I'm not too terribly sure I want to. They seem dreadful." Esme waved her hand to dismiss the thought, and Edward just chuckled.

"Aunt Esme, I'm one of those people. I've got it," Edward said. "Also, nice to know how you really feel." He did another quick scan of the papers spread before them on the counter. "And we should seriously start thinking about a commercial."

"Can you believe this boy?" Esme said to Bella, who left her spot by Jane, keying in an override code for a discount. "Wants to put us on TV."

"Well, Esme, you don't exactly have the face for radio." Bella laughed as Esme smacked her arm.

"Such a wiseass," she said. "Get back to work, you two."

Bella told Edward she'd do the midafternoon inventory check, and took the clipboard into the store room with her when he nodded. She was halfway finished when she heard "Mr. Banner!" from the counter. Mr. Banner was one of Bella's favorite customers. He'd been with his partner for over ten years, and they were both high school administrators at a private school in town. Mr. Banner had been coming to the store since it opened, for manuscripts and books for his classroom.

Setting the clipboard aside, Bella rushed back out to the counter. "Mr. Banner," she said, grinning widely. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Bella," he said, smiling warmly. "I believe there's a very special book on hold for me?"

Bella's grin widened. "Why yes, there is," she said. She reached back and slapped Edward's chest, keeping her eyes focused on her customer, saying "Go get the book Mr. Banner requested, please?" She turned back to Edward, who was rubbing the spot where she'd hit him. She snorted out a laugh and he rolled his eyes. He'd been spending far too much time around her.

"Yes ma'am," he said, saluting her.

"Mr. Banner, _please_ tell me you're finally going to make an honest man out of Mr. Greene!" Bella said, reaching out to take Mr. Banner's hands in her own. "I'm dying for a white wedding over here!"

"For your information, since you asked so nicely," Mr. Banner said, removing his hands from Bella's and smirking, "reservations are made, champagne has been purchased, and I even have," he pulled a small box out of the inside of his jacket pocket, "this." He opened the box and showed Bella a beautiful white gold band. He lifted it out and showed her the engraving on the inside. It read "Forever and Always".

"Oh, Mr. Banner, it's beautiful!" Bella exclaimed, her hand resting over her heart. Edward returned with the book and leaned one hand on the counter by Bella's register as she rang him out. He reached around her with the other hand, in a weird sort of pseudo-hug as he keyed in his manager's discount code. "What are you doing?"

"That smile you've got over this engagement is worth my discount." He smiled at her and removed his hand from the screen to place it on her shoulder. She stood there in his almost embrace, reveling in the closeness, despite the fact that they should probably not be that close at work. She couldn't bring herself to care as she grinned at Mr. Banner and began wrapping up his book, surrounded as she was by the scent of Edward's aftershave and laundry detergent, glowing from the inside with happiness for Mr. Banner.

She looked up from wrapping when she felt eyes on her. Elizabeth Masen was watching from the clothing section, eyebrows reaching her hairline. Bella flushed, but kept going. She wasn't doing anything wrong. When the book was wrapped perfectly and secured in a Cullen's Fine Goods Emporium bag, Bella leaned over the counter and wrapped her arms around Mr. Banner.

"Congratulations," she said softly. "Be sure to bring that fiancé of yours next time, okay?"

"Of course, Bella," Mr. Banner whispered. "And next time I see you without that piece of man behind you I want _details_." He shot her a quick wink as they disengaged, and Edward shook Mr. Banner's hand.

"Hope everything goes well, sir. Your partner is lucky to have someone so thoughtful."

"Thank you, Edward." Mr. Banner waved his goodbyes and Edward's hand came to rest high on Bella's back. She gave a small sigh and went back to work, pondering the fact that if she worked anywhere else, she likely wouldn't have these kinds of relationships with her clientele. It was part of the reason she was becoming a lawyer. She needed to be able to connect. She was grateful to this wonderful place for giving her that.

*

Leah was making her way back to the counter when Elizabeth apparently decided that she'd been quietly observing for long enough. They were hitting a lull, and she made her way up to the counter with a pile of couture over her arm.

"Well," she said when she reached the counter and slid her purchases down, "my niece manages to stock this place with _fabulous_ pieces. Can you believe the sheer amount of things I've found?"

Bella smiled. "Afternoon, Mrs. Masen," she said. "How are you?"

"Mother?" Edward asked, momentarily stunned.

"Oh, please," Elizabeth said, "Like you didn't know I was here."

"I suspected." Edward folded his arms over his chest, which made his forearms look particularly well-muscled and caused Bella to flush a slight pink.

"Anyway, Bella dear, I'm fine." Elizabeth gestured to the clothing. "My sister made us an account when she opened the place, but it's been a true age and a half; is it still there?"

Bella tapped away at a few buttons. "Of course, Mrs. Masen, it's right here." She started sorting out the pieces of clothing for her. "I'll ring you out, if you'd like?"

"Bella, please, it's Lizzie, I've told you." She frowned and shot Bella a withering stare that screamed "comply". "Edward darling, can I steal you a moment while Bella takes care of this? She's surely much more capable than you are, and I trust her with fashion far more."

"Why?"

"Remember the cashmere sweater incident?" she asked, brows high.

Edward flung his arms down. "Oh my God, that was _one_ time, Mother!"

Bella laughed and shooed Edward toward the exit. "Go talk to your mother, I'll handle this," she said, smiling. Elizabeth shot her a grateful look, and Bella beamed while Edward grumbled as he left the desk.

She finished with Elizabeth's purchase fairly quickly, and once it was bagged up she went to find the mother-son duo, only to overhear her own name as she approached. Bella ducked into an aisle, because while eavesdropping was wrong, it was also a great way to figure out if the mother of the guy you loved liked you or not.

"…with Bella, with the Cullens, you're really happy," she heard Elizabeth saying. "I thought it was an escape, but it isn't, it's home. And I won't bring her up again, because I know it upsets you, and you have nothing to be upset about here, with your family close and with Bella…" she trailed off suggestively.

"Mother," Edward said, his tone a warning.

"I know, I know," Elizabeth said, "I'm not going to meddle. I already spoke to Esme. She told me how you can't be together here, but honey, I think you should say 'bugger the rules' and go for it, to be honest."

"Bella isn't like that. I don't want us to start off with a breach of contract. What would that say about our relationship?" Bella's heart swelled at his words, and she felt warm from head to toes. God, she knew there was a reason she loved him so much.

"Well," Elizabeth said, "that's not all Esme told me. She also gave me a sense of how well you're doing here at the store. Have you considered staying? Being the public relations department for your aunt?"

"Uh…" Edward said, hesitating. Bella instantly knew why. Those resumes and job applications. The hunt for a new position that fit him, so that they could be together. It made her sick to her stomach to think that maybe he didn't want that. "Sometimes, I do think about it," he said. "But I'm not sure…"

"Edward."

"Mother."

"If this is about Bella," she said.

"Well…"

"If I've leaned anything about that girl, it's that she wouldn't want you to sacrifice a career you love for her." Elizabeth let out a very unlady-like snort. "You should have heard her defend you and this job. Full of righteous indignation."

Bella felt a rush of affection for Lizzie. Bless her for saying exactly what Bella couldn't (because she was definitely not supposed to be hearing this conversation). Bella didn't want Edward to be unhappy. She wanted him to have the sense of home in his job that she did, and that she felt in class on case studies. Bella wanted Edward to have a job he loved. She knew that he liked the P.R. aspect of his classes, and that he had breezed through them, but she also knew that he wasn't sure if he really wanted to work in a large firm, or if that had all been Victoria. He'd been pushed into his chosen career path by his ex, but he was fascinated by all aspects of Communications, and he loved the personal relationships that a community shop like CFG developed with their clientele, their suppliers, their employees. Getting to know Edward had just shown her how perfectly he fit in with this company.

If he wanted to stay, she could wait for graduation. Those six months would breeze by… right? How long could it take after graduation to find a job? A year, max, right? A year and six months… she could always quit.

Could she stand it if she quit her job and they didn't work out? Would she ever not resent him for it? Yes. She wouldn't resent him. She couldn't. It wasn't possible to. But that was worse somehow, because he would have moved on and she'd be at work (Carlisle and Esme would take her back, let's just be honest) or at Henry's birthday or at Alice's boutique opening (it was going to happen if it was the last thing she and Alice did) or at her and Jasper's wedding or at Carlisle and Esme's anniversary parties pining after him and thinking about throwing away the friendship and her own stability for the chance to be with him.

She was in love with him. She felt it in every breath, every moment, every thought, every cell in her body. They all screamed for him, they lit her skin on fire when it met his, her dreams and thoughts were all occupied by him. And if he didn't feel the same… she wouldn't make it. She knew she wouldn't.

"Yeah… she's good like that," Edward said softly, and Bella imagined he was smiling. That dumb, heart-stopping grin that he did whenever they were alone.

"Honey…" Lizzie trailed off.

"I'm okay, mom. It's not forever. We always say that it's not forever."

They were silent for a moment, and Bella figured it was as good a time as any to make her entrance.

She made a lot of noise as she rounded the corner to the aisle they were in. "Hey, there you are!" she said, holding out the bag. "You guys are hard to find. I've got your couture here, Mrs. Masen."

"Thank you, Bella," Lizzie said, smiling widely, with just a hint of sadness pulling at her cheeks. "I have to steal your father out of Carlisle's office. I'm sure he's annoyed him half to death going over all of the paperwork and books. Like your uncle doesn't have a legal team on retainer." She shook her head and started striding toward the office. "Goodbye Bella, darling," she called over her shoulder. She stopped short at the end of the aisle, staring back at her. "It is a joy to have met you dear. You are a very sharp woman. I look forward to seeing you _much_ more."

Bella just flushed a deep pink and nodded. "Me too, Mrs. Masen."

Elizabeth sighed deeply. "We're going to work on the Lizzie thing."

"Yes, I suppose we will," Bella said, giggling.

The two women smiled at each other and Bella felt like there was an understanding between them, like they shared something in common. When she left, the thing they shared in common came up behind her and scared the hell out of her by speaking directly into her ear.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bella was employing the A.B.D. method for Edward's own good. He'd be embarrassed if he knew what she'd heard.

"So everything then," he said.

"You're paranoid," Bella said, starting to head back toward the service desk, Edward trailing behind her.

"And correct."

"Alright, crazy, go take your lunch. Get your parents away from Carlisle and give them some chicken."

Edward gasped. "You want me to share?!"

"I over-packed. I had a hunch they might swing by." Bella shrugged.

"And you two are in cahoots." Edward's eyes narrowed.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Dramatic and paranoid. Go to lunch, weirdo."

"Alright," Edward said, finally smiling. "By the way," he continued, "she likes you, you know."

Bella filled with pride, but managed to keep her face neutral. Actually, she didn't, but she managed to reign it in very quickly. "Doesn't everyone?"

"All the Masens, apparently."

"That is good information. Get out of here," she said, shoving him toward the office after his mother. He reached out and tugged on a lock of her hair, causing Bella to grin, and then turned and made his way to the office.

And Bella enjoyed the view until he was out of sight.

*

"Alice, I really don't want to do karaoke."

"Wow, it's a great thing that this isn't about what you want then, isn't it?"

Alice was applying lipstick in the bathroom mirror, while Bella sat on the "roommate giving her an inconvenient and oftentimes coerced makeover" stool with hot rollers in her hair. Alice was dressed in a killer violet dress whose long sleeves and short skirt clung to her frame. She'd paired it with over-the-knee boots that made her a full five inches taller than she actually was, making her one inch taller than Bella in her (praise be) flats. Her coat was draped over the counter, a black trench that was going to make people think Alice was nude under it. She looked amazing, and while Bella was happy for her, she wasn't quite feeling up to taking the stage before, during, or after Alice had been on it. Pair that with Jessica, who was sure to be dressed for danger, Leah, who looked good without even trying, and Kate, who could sing like her life depended on it, and Bella wasn't feeling too keen to shake her groove thing.

It wasn't that she was insecure… okay maybe it was, but it wasn't like she was jealous of her friends. Bella liked being herself. It was just that they sometimes made her wonder what the hell they hung out with her for.

It was a recurring theme in her life to be surrounded by extraordinary people while she was just ordinary.

"Come on, don't make me sing." Bella was whining, and yet she couldn't bring herself to care that her voice was annoying and nasal.

"Bells. You sing better than all of us. You _have_ to."

"Edward's gonna be home in like an hour and a half, can't I just go watch a movie?"

Alice groaned. "Listen, I get that you're totally in love with my cousin-"

"Am not," Bella grumbled.

"-but you cannot neglect your girls for him all the time."

Bella snorted. "What are you even talking about? We had a sleepover with Jess literally four days ago, and Kate has been over almost every day since Halloween because I created a two-headed Frankenstein monster by putting you two together."

"Yes, and what do you do while our dear girlfriends are over?" Alice leveled Bella with a hard stare. "Texting. My. Cousin."

Bella blushed and ducked her head. "I'd say sorry, but I'm really not."

"And you don't need to be," Alice said, grabbing a lip gloss and handing it to Bella for application while she started removing the hot rollers. "But you need to take some breathing room. You know I'm Edward's number one fan, I just don't want you to get sucked into an Edward Vortex."

Bella let out a sigh, nodding only slightly to avoid obstructing Alice's nimble fingers in her hair. "Okay. Okay, you're right. You know what? Hang on."

She whipped out her phone and shot off a text.

 _You need to have a boy's night. -B_

 **Really? I'm intrigued. Why? -E**

 _Because we can't get sucked into the Edward and Bella Vortex. -B_

 **I don't know what that is, but it sounds lovely. We're avoiding this why? -E**

Bella snorted. _We're avoiding becoming those jerky people who ignore their friends. -B_

 **We're friends. -E**

 _Shut up. Go out with the boys, would you? -B_

 **I already texted Jasper, Seth, and Jake. Emmett has some Henry thing with Rosie. We're going out, as ordered. -E**

 _Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow. -B_

 **Good night, beautiful. -E**

 _Good night, goofus. -B_

"There," Bella said. "Taken care of. Edward's going out with your man, Seth, and Jake. No Bella Vortex for him, no Edward Vortex for me." Bella looked at her reflection. "Also, holy shit. How do you even accomplish this?" Her hair was full and bouncy, and Alice had added something shimmery to her cheekbones. She looked like herself, but elevated. That was what Tan France would say, anyway.

"Please. You are so easy to get ready. Your natural beauty needs nothing excessive. Now, go put on that black sweater I got you from the store, and the navy mini button up skirt with some tights. You can keep those shoes."

"God bless you," Bella said, clicking the heels of her All Stars together.

"She has."

Bella laughed and went to get her designated outfit.

When the girls arrived at the bar, there was a guy on stage warbling through "Love Me Tender" which in all honesty was truly bringing the entire mood of the place down. The girls snagged a table and Alice ran up to get the karaoke list from the pianist.

Bella was scanning the bar and trying to tune out Decidedly-Not Elvis when Jess wandered in with Leah. Bella waved and the girls came speeding over.

"Bella! Thank God, please tell me you're doing something, I'm totally broke and I need free drinks." Jessica rushed through a hug and hustled to sit next to Bella. "You're a karaoke virgin, so you don't know, but Bells here makes all the boys swoon when she croons. And then they start sending over far too much alcohol for one little person."

"I'm not little. And no they don't."

"Every time?" Leah asked.

"Every. Time." Jess shot Leah a wink. Leah had gotten the job only a few months before Edward, and though she knew everyone because of Seth, she had yet to go to karaoke with the girls. She usually made it out to mixed group events, but had some trouble finding the will to deal with all the estrogen. "Mine is enough," she'd told Bella.

"That's incredible. You're singing all night." Leah said it like law, and Bella was hard-pressed to find a way to say no to her. "First round's on me, though." She headed over to the bar, and Jess smiled after her.

"Oh yeah, we like her," Jess said. "We like her a _lot_."

Bella just laughed as Kate hustled up to the table. "What's going on with drinks?" she asked. "Peters gave me six essays to grade and I need to be blackout drunk to read the first-years' shitty opinions on quite literally anything."

Leah, like an angel of mercy, appeared in that moment with a tray of shots and a pitcher of beer.

"What the hell is in those glasses?"

"Tequila."

"Absolutely not." Bella crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, her Alice-perfected hair bouncing wildly.

Leah let out a snort. "Take the shot, have a beer, pick a song, and don't be a punk ass. In that order."

They had a stare down as Kate passed out the shots to the rest of the group, including Alice who'd returned with the song list. "Ooooh, are we peer-pressuring Bells into tequila? I'm so down. Shot!" Alice said, turning to the other girls and gesturing for them to join her.

"Shot!" they all echoed dutifully. "Shot! Shot! Shot!"

They chanted and Leah and Bella sat unblinking, Leah's brows high on her forehead and a smirk adorning her lips and Bella frowning severely. The chanting continued and Bella felt her resolve slipping. Leah's smile only grew, and Bella could feel herself beginning to crack. She didn't want to lose this staring contest but her eyes were starting to burn.

She blinked and Leah handed her the shot. The girls kept chanting, effectively drowning out the end of Decidedly-Not Elvis's song as Bella regarded the shot glass.

"Oh fuck it!" she shouted, and he girls' chanting rang in her ears as she threw it back, before they burst into cheers. "Hand me a beer, because that was absolutely the whitest, cheapest tequila I have ever had the misfortune to drink."

"My salary is small." Leah chuckled.

"We're hourly, and CFG pays better than any other retailer in the county," Alice said, one brow quirked.

"Well, I'm not wasting it on the good stuff when I know for a fact that you have some at home for the after party." Leah shot the table a wink as the girls laughed. "Hand Bella the song list, I have to see this apparent siren shit she does with her voice."

"Gotta get me far drunker than that." Bella snorted into the beer that Jessica had poured.

"The whole point is to get us drunk from your magic powers, bitch, so get a move on," Jess barked, causing Kate to giggle.

Bella just sighed and started perusing. "Okay I think I've got it." Bella shoved the list toward Kate. "Someone get me another shot, pick your songs, and I'll go put them in."

She figured that asking for another shot would buy her about five minutes, because the bar was exceptionally crowded. But Alice, that sneaky freak, didn't drink her own shot and set it in front of Bella now, with her eyebrows high and a challenge in her eyes.

Bella was better than succumbing to Alice's challenges.

The tequila burned her throat on the way down, mocking her for thinking she was better than this. Her stomach felt warm, and her face tingled and she took several large gulps of her beer to drive the taste of cheap tequila out of her mouth. Bella's cheeks suddenly felt thick. Lord if that stuff didn't hit quickly.

Kate wrote down the numbers of the other girls' song choices, and Bella tapped her nose twice and swiveled off her stool to head over to the band. She added her number at the bottom of the list and handed it over to the pianist. The great thing about live-band karaoke was that the sound was always excellent, it was just singers you had to worry about. The pianist told her it would be about twenty minutes before their first song, and he gave her the name of the last song before theirs. Bella grinned a bit widely as she thanked him, her lips loose from the alcohol. The pianist shot her a wink and Bella had to hold in a frown. It wasn't this guy's fault that Bella only wanted one guy to wink at her.

When she made it back to the table the girls were talking animatedly and everyone had an untouched shot in their hand. There was one waiting in front of Bella's spot.

"We're on the list."

"Great!" Alice said. "Grab a seat, we're playing a game."

Bella slid onto her stool and stared at the offensive alcohol in front of her. "What's the game?"

"We make a statement, and the rest of us decide if it's truth or a lie. If the group is wrong, it's a sip. If they're right, the person who made the statement takes a shot." Leah poured Bella another beer (where the hell were they getting all this alcohol?) and clapped her hands. "Let's do this bitch." She held out her shot, and spoke clearly with a monotone. "I won a baby beauty pageant when I was two years old."

"Bullshit!" Jessica yelled. "Like you'd let anyone stick you in a tutu and prance you around like a show pony."

"I was two."

"Beside that, judges at those things don't like sullen faces, and I cannot imagine that you gave them much of a show." Jessica shook her head, and turned to the others. "What do you guys think?"

"She had that fact ready so quickly," Alice pointed out. "Could be true."

"I'm having trouble imagining it, but it could totally have happened," Kate said.

"I think she's telling the truth," Bella said. "Just a gut feeling."

"Alright fine, we say it's true, under protest." Jess was pouting.

Leah smiled and threw back her shot.

"I knew it!" Bella said.

"My mom took me and when my father showed up to take us home, I got so excited that apparently my cute little face was too much for the judges," Leah explained. She elbowed Jess, who was staring at her openmouthed. "Your turn."

"I can't believe that was true." Jessica took a large swallow of her beer before she spoke. "I once knocked someone unconscious with my boobs."

"What?!" Alice screeched.

"What did you do, smack them with one?" Bella asked, laughing.

Leah was doubled over. "That is such a crock of shit," she wheezed out.

"I mean, they do look pretty lethal," Kate said, eyeing Jessica's chest.

"Thank you," Jessica said. "And no, I did not 'smack them'. She was motor boating and ran out of breath but instead of getting up she just…" Jessica gestured with her hands, "slumped over."

The women were all howling with laughter. "No way. Absolutely not." Bella's voice was wavering with her mirth, but she was firm.

"Yeah, I'm not buying it," Leah said.

Jessica huffed. "Ugh, fuck you guys," she said, before throwing back her own shot. "She actually passed out between my legs."

"Jess!"

"That makes much more sense," Kate said, nodding.

Leah ducked down beneath the table to look at Jessica's legs. "Checks out," she said when she emerged.

"Okay, okay, my turn!" Alice clapped and bounced in her seat. She made a face like she was concentrating very hard, her mouth puckered up and her brow furrowed. "Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed, "In college, I lost a bet on a sewing competition, and my punishment was that I couldn't wear underpants for six weeks. Like three quarters of my wardrobe is skirts and dresses. It was an interesting time for all."

"I believe it," Bella said. "Sounds just about right."

"Who the fuck has a sewing competition?!" Leah asked.

"Alice does," Jess said.

"We're saying that absolutely happened." Kate was staring Alice down.

Alice lifted a perfect brow and shook her head just slightly. "I've never lost a bet in my life," she said. "But my roommate did have quite a time without her panties."

"You little shit," Kate said, before taking a large swig of her beer.

"I cannot believe I messed that up," Bella said after she took her drink. "Rookie mistake."

"Alright bitches, top this," Kate said, before chugging the rest of her drink. "I have had sex on all seven continents."

"How did you make it to Antarctica?!" Alice screeched.

"I smell a _lot_ of bullshit," Leah said.

Bella just raised her eyebrows and snorted loudly.

"We're going with no, you crazy," Jess said.

"When my father proposed a family trip to the South Pole, I called him a crazy person, too. But now I'm the most sexually cultured bitch I know. Take your fucking drinks, ladies."

The girls were giggling loudly and drinking deeply from their glasses when they heard the pianist call out, "Alice and Leah, you're up!"

Alice winked and dragged Leah off toward the stage, while the others whooped and hollered for them. Bella was just glad that she didn't have to take her turn playing the game. They sang "For Good" and brought the house down. Bella and the others were on their feet as the last notes filled the air and they screeched out their approval as Alice forced Leah to take a bow with her.

Jessica was crying as they returned to their seats. "God I love you guys," she said.

"We love you too," Bella said, rubbing Jess's back soothingly. "Cut her off," she whispered to Kate, who snorted.

"Next up is Kate!" the pianist called out.

Kate downed her drink and sauntered off to the cheers of her friends, strolling onto the stage like she owned the place. The opening notes of "Dancing Queen" rang out and the girls' cheers intensified.

"I _fucking love_ this song," Jessica said, her eyes refilling with moisture.

Bella giggled loudly and kept right on cheering. Leah dragged them all out to the dance floor to be Kate's own personal Dancing Queens. Kate stepped off the stage and sang as she danced with them, not needing the lyric screen to absolutely nail it. Bella was starting to understand why Alice liked karaoke so much. It was because they were all great at it.

When the song ended the pianist asked for Jessica, and she bounded up the steps to the stage, her eyes still teary. When the song started, however, all tears disappeared, and Jessica transformed into Lady friggin Marmalade as she belted out the classic Xtina song. She strutted the stage to the sounds of whistles and cheering. Bella saw several eyes glaze over as Jessica gyrated and swayed, which made her giggle uncontrollably. Hot damn, this crappy tequila was working magic. Bella danced her way through with Alice as Leah spun Kate around the floor.

And suddenly she was up.

Bella hated to sing in front of people, but Alice and Jessica knew exactly what to do to make it happen: get her rip roaring drunk, which she definitely was. It was like a switch flipped and the voice in her head said, "Hey! Kiss a stranger! Sing a song! Dance your ass off! Rap! Bake something! Ask the bartender if you can do flair tricks like Tom Cruise in _Cocktail!_ " Bella took the steps up the stage and shot the pianist a grin to indicate she was ready. He winked and nodded at her. Bella was the start for this one.

" _We're running with the shadows of the night! So baby take my hand, we'll be alright! Surrender all your dreams to me tonight! They'll come true in the end…_ "

Bella's face was to the ceiling as she sang, unaccompanied, the opening lines of Pat Benetar's epic. As the drum beat hit, she dropped her head down and back to the audience, like she was performing at the flippin' Super Bowl and not at a karaoke bar in downtown Seattle.

And she spotted a flash of auburn hair as her eyes finally leveled with the crowd.

It disappeared, and Bella realized it must be the alcohol as she sang on. But that flash of red stuck with her, making the lyrics to the song seem poetic in the way only alcohol and longing can make them.

" _Ransom my heart but baby, don't look back, cause we've got nobody else!_ " She didn't have anybody else. Not anybody like Edward. She was so desperately in love with that man, and she was starting to be tired of hiding it.

She was dancing around the stage, working her emotions to her friends, singing out to them as though it was her own private concert.

" _You know that sometimes, it feels like it's all moving way too fast…_ "

Was she moving too fast?

" _Use every alibi and words you deny that love ain't meant to last…_ "

Oh dear sweet God, that was all she was doing, wasn't it? Trying to force herself into a timetable that made sense to everyone else. She didn't give a hoot about anyone else. She'd run away with Edward tomorrow if she could.

" _You can cry tough baby, it's alright! You can let me down easy, but not tonight!_ "

Edward could let her down easy, and she'd survive, but she had to tell him how she felt. She wanted him to keep his job. She wanted him. She wanted him to know that she was in love with him. And damn all the consequences.

The bar was screaming for her, or was that just her friends? And why was that flash of auburn hair haunting her vision? She'd made a decision, his mirage could fade now. But then her slow boozy eyes finally adjusted and she realized it wasn't a mirage. It was him. And Seth, and Jake, grinning at her, and Jasper, who was winding his way toward Alice across the floor. Bella managed to keep singing, but her eyes never strayed from Edward's beaming face.

She was going to tell him.

As she finished the song, she could hear a ringing in her ears as the bar showed their appreciation. The pianist grinned at her and helped her hop off the stage, but his hand lingered a bit too long at her lower back, and she turned to frown at him, only to find herself being pulled back and spun around, making her head spin. When she refocused, her hands were clasped in Edward's, and he was smiling down at her.

"Okay, I knew you could sing, but holy _shit_ ," he said. He smelled like whiskey, and she realized in a burst of anti-booze clarity that the boys must have been popping around bars in the city and stumbled onto the girls. The whiskey explained the cursing, anyway.

Was it wrong that she loved it when he used profanity?

"Hey I need to tell you – "

"Let's get you a drink," Edward said, leading her back to the table, trailed by the rest of her little group. And just like that, her confidence was gone. Because if Edward _did_ let her down easy, she didn't _want_ it to be tonight.

They found their table covered in drinks.

"I told you!" Jess squealed. "Every time!"

"Siren voodoo," Leah said, slapping Bella on the back.

"Alright," Edward said, under his breath so that only Bella could hear, "Which of these chuckleheads sent you all these drinks? I need a few words with them." He sounded more than a little angry, and Bella grinned.

It was enough to know he cared.

It was enough.

For now.

*

 **A/N: Are you ready? I'm not. Oh dear, oh dear, what could be more dangerous than two people in love? Thoughts appreciated! LOVE YOU ALL!**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**A/N : I'm just gonna drop this here and immediately go into hiding. This was so hard for me to write, guys!!!!!**

 **This one is for my twiwife, who encouraged me to pump out this Twistmas miracle and for accidentallyatwilightaccount, who helped me write it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight but I do own several blankets I will be hiding under after this posts.**

 *****

There was a knock on Edward's door just as he was about to continue his Christmas movie marathon with _The Santa Clause 2_. It was a rare day off for him, as the store was closed for party prep and his usual alternative entertainment – staring at Bella – was a no-go as she was actually participating in said party prep.

He'd get to stare at her plenty this weekend, though. Edward and Bella had the next four days off to shop for and wrap all of their Christmas gifts. They'd both been covering shifts so that the rest of the department could attend parties, shop, and visit family over the holiday season, so neither of them had been able to purchase anything. The break was not only deserved, but necessary, because Bella insisted on her crazy form of gift wrapping that included making her own wrapping paper. He could not have made this up if he tried. Edward had been planning their shopping excursion all morning, perusing sales advertisements and cross-referencing their locations on a large map of Seattle that he had purchased to mark everything down on.

The knock sounded again, more insistent, and Edward quickly paused the movie and went to answer the door, stooping ever so slightly to check the peephole. He chuckled at what he saw, then swung the door open wide.

"Shouldn't you two be getting gussied up for the party?" he asked, smiling at his visitors.

Jacob shoved his way into Edward's apartment, ignoring his question and collapsing onto Edward's couch face first. "Ben's having a breakdown," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the cushions.

Ben, who actually waited for Edward's gesture to come in, quickly followed Jake's example and slumped onto the couch, his head in his hands.

Edward shut the door, a bit shell-shocked, and turned to face the intruders on his peace with a raised brow. "Breakdown?" he asked, calmly.

Ben removed one hand from his face and used it to fumble around in his pocket for a moment, before removing it with a small black velvet box clutched in his fist.

"Holy shit," Edward said, looking from the box, to Ben's covered face, to Jake, who had finally sat up like a human, back to the box. "Is that-"

"Yep," Jake said, puffing out a gust of air. His eyes were heavenward and his head was shaking from side to side ever so slightly.

"And you're going to-"

"Yep," said Ben, his voice quavering ever so slightly.

Edward walked slowly to the couch and sank down on Ben's other side. "Holy shit." Christ he sounded like a broken record, but _holy shit_.

"Yeah man," Jake said, still addressing the ceiling. "You're better than me at all this romance shit so you gotta help him."

Edward snorted. "What makes you think I'm better at 'romantic shit'?"

"Process of elimination," Jacob said, his tone grave. "If I'm the worst at it, then you're better than I am by default." He was instinctively leaning away from the box as he spoke, which amused Edward to no end.

"Can't argue with logic," Edward said. He sat straighter and faced Ben. "Care to explain?"

Ben took a deep breath, and then spewed forth words like a broken hydrant. "Today is Angie's birthday and there's only like, five days until Christmas and I only got her this engagement ring, so I kind of have to give it to her because otherwise I'm a really shitty boyfriend but we've only been dating for nine months and I don't want to scare her off because she's been hurt before but I really want to be her husband but I don't know how to ask." Edward was fairly certain that Ben hadn't taken a breath during his entire tirade.

"I suggested he buy her a shoe tree and avoid the situation entirely."

"Jake, why do you even know what a shoe tree is anyway?" Edward asked.

"I got shoes, don't I?

Something about Ben's rant struck a chord with Edward. "Wait, nine months? Isn't Maggie only eight months old?"

He watched as Jake's eyes widened and his hands came up to either side of his face like the man in The Scream. Ben literally slammed his head down onto the coffee table with a loud thud.

"Fuck!" Jake shouted. "Goddamn, Ben, don't you know how to edit?!"

What was their problem anyway? So Ben had made a math mistake. It wasn't the end of the…

Nine months together. Maggie's resemblance to her mother. Bella's cautious distance from Edward whenever Angela was around. It wasn't that she was too perceptive, as Edward had assumed, it was that she was too sensitive.

"… _because she's been hurt before_ …" he heard Ben's voice say in his head.

"It was her," Edward said, his voice cracking. Deep inside his chest a burning pit of hatred opened up for a man he hoped he'd never meet. For the man who hurt Angela, his friend. "It was… Angela… with that sorry waste of space!" He was shouting at this point, too angry to think straight. "And Maggie-"

"Is _mine_." Ben's voice was a low growl, and Edward turned to him, startled out of his rage. He'd never seen calm and kind-hearted Ben look so furious. He wasn't even sure he'd ever seen him raise his voice. "He signed her away, and I have been hers just as I am Angela's since the day she came into this world."

"We know, man," Jake said, laying a comforting hand on Ben's arm. "Edward just got a shock, that's all."

Edward nodded. "That's your daughter, Ben. I know that." He chuckled softly. "Hell, everyone knows that." Edward reached over and tapped the box in Ben's hand. "Now let's see about getting you the wife to go with the daughter."

Ben took a deep breath, and Edward watched, amazed, as the anger vanished from his face, taken over by a glowing smile.

"A wife," he repeated serenely.

Edward smiled right along with him. "Let's get to work," he said.

"Fuckin' A," said Jake. "Right after we watch fat Tim Allen save Christmas again." He reached for the remote.

*

Edward was flying high on engagement fumes as he arrived at the store for final prep later.

And studiously ignoring the ridiculous pang of jealousy that tugged at his heart.

And he was definitely not imagining white lace over pale skin, and a fine net of the stuff covering waves of brown hair.

Because imagining his wedding to a woman he wasn't even dating was insanity.

He shook off his ludicrous envy as he entered in through the employee entrance, gazing around at the decorations. They'd rearranged the clothing racks against the walls and covered them with shining felt snow blankets, leaving a wide dining and dancing area in the center of the first floor. There were trees and snowmen along the edges, obscuring the hidden racks almost completely.

There was a small stage at the far end of the dance floor, and the service desk was blocked by a full mobile bar, with several bartenders arranging glasses and bottles. They'd put chairs and cushions throughout the books and manuscripts section, and the entire first floor was covered in snowflakes and Christmas lights, glowing gold in the light of the chandelier. The place looked like some grand ballroom, not a discount luxuries store. It was truly amazing.

Edward spotted the DJ appearing next to the piano that Esme allowed local musicians to play throughout the holidays to entertain the customers.

Excellent. Exactly what and who he needed to see.

He had a quick conversation with the man, who was more than happy to help out with Mission Matrimony, as Jake had dubbed it while scarfing down popcorn and laughing at Bernard the Elf.

Right as he was finalizing the last few details, he felt something poking into his back and swiveled around to find Alice behind him, stabbing him with a candy cane.

"Come help me finish up the table settings," she demanded.

"Hi Alice, nice to see you," Edward said, smiling at her. She was wearing a shimmering blue dress that set off her dark hair and green eyes: the eyes they shared. She had that look on her face, the one that said "do as I say or die."

"Hi," she said, clearly unfazed by his attempt to shame her into being more polite, "Come help me finish the table settings."

"Come help me…" he trailed off, waiting for Alice to remember her manners.

"Now." Her face was resolute, and she was lightly tapping her heeled foot.

Edward sighed. "Well, alright then."

She dragged him off to the dining area and promptly shoved a box of napkins into his arms. Alice placed her hands on his shoulders and forced him down into a chair, pointing to another box on the table in front of him, full of napkin rings. "Napkins, meet rings. One on each plate," she commanded. She took two steps away, then added, "Don't fuck it up."

"Gee, thanks Ali," he called after her harried, retreating form as she bustled off to get angry with someone else over something else.

He sat rolling napkins into rings for a few minutes before he felt the chair beside him shift. He glanced up and felt his ears go hot.

Bella was sitting beside him in profile, smiling softly and reaching into the box of napkins where it lay to his left. Her hair was falling in waves down her back, with the top tied back with a red Christmas bow. Her cheeks were rosy, as usual, and there was a slight shimmer to her skin. His eyes travelled down of their own accord, taking in the sheer fabric covering her shoulders and sweeping across her collarbone. The sheer faded into opaque, the deep green of the dress complimenting her skin in wonderful ways.

She sat in companionable silence, legs crossed under tea-length (one of the terms he'd learned from Alice and remembered in case he needed to shop for the women in his life) skirts, a pair of heeled Oxfords (Alice took his fashion education seriously) tapping in time to the Christmas music filtering in through the speakers.

"Hello," he said, not bothering to hide his blatant ogling.

Her smile widened when he spoke. "Hey," she said, keeping her eyes on the napkins. "Are you going to help me here, or are you just going to stare at me all night?"

Edward pretended to consider it. "Is that second one a real option?"

She rolled her eyes, but her cheeks flushed a deeper crimson. "No," she said, taking another napkin from the box and throwing it at his face. "Now make yourself useful."

"Yes, Boss," he said, dutifully rolling the napkin.

Once the napkins were all rolled and placed on their respective plates, Edward trailed after Bella as she wandered around the store pointing out snowflake lights she needed him to turn on. He still had a solid four inches on her in her heels, and she couldn't quite reach them.

They passed Esme, who shot Edward a wink as she went to take one of the two vases of poinsettias out of Carlisle's arms. Edward glanced back at them just in time to see Carlisle use his now-free hand to swat at Esme's behind.

Wow. Add that to the list of things he didn't need to see, right under Emmett's bare ass as he mooned the Masens' car on a family road trip.

He heard Bella snickering behind him. "What?" Edward asked.

"They're cute," she said, heaving a longing sigh. "I hope my potential future husband and I are still acting like teenagers after twenty-five years of marriage."

Edward fought back a word vomit the likes of which he'd never experienced, and instead just tapped Bella on the nose before tugging on a lock of her hair. "You will be," he said simply.

She smiled hopefully, then turned and headed off to another light.

Edward, as he suspected he would for the rest of his life, followed her.

*

Jake was absolutely going to ruin Mission Matrimony with his incessant suspicious behavior. He was one table away from where Edward sat eating dinner with the rest of the Cullens and Bella, stealing glances at the couple in question and then trying to lock eyes with Edward.

"I think Jake's into you," Bella whispered into his ear, causing Edward to shiver slightly.

He turned to lock eyes with her, noting her smug smile. She'd noticed the shiver. "I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, is that so?" Her brow was cresting toward her hairline. "What aren't you telling me?"

 _I'm in love with you and I want to marry you and father your children and grow senile with you and eventually die with you._

Nope. He definitely couldn't say that. He also wasn't about to snitch on Ben, either.

"Nothing, Bella," he said, smiling. "Nothing that you won't see soon enough, anyway."

"What does that mean?"

"It means patience is a virtue."

She was staring him down, her brow still high, her mouth a grim line, suspicion evident in her gaze. Edward stared calmly back, smiling. Her eyes slowly narrowed, but Edward's grin only widened. She wasn't going to win this one. He'd give her anything she asked for, but this wasn't his to give. Finally, when her eyes were slits, Edward reached out and tugged on a lock of her hair, causing her face to scrunch up adorably as she stifled her smile.

She sighed. "Fine." She resumed eating dinner, pouting. Edward chuckled.

He shot a quick text to Jake under the table that read "calm the fuck down" and ate his own dinner, enjoying the company of his cousins and his aunt and uncle and even sulky Bella, who was too cute for her own good.

Alice and Jasper were arguing good-naturedly about which Christmas movie was better: _White Christmas_ or _It's A Wonderful Life_ , and Rose and Emmett were extremely invested in different ways. Emmett was insisting that the greatest Christmas movie was _Die Hard_ , and Rosalie was timing them to see who gave up first. Esme was feeding Henry despite the fact that he could almost certainly feed himself, and Carlisle and Bella were discussing the merits of snowflakes versus baubles in Christmas decorating. Edward was about to weigh in on the Christmas movie debate when Carlisle stood up and reached his hand out to tug Esme along with him. Emmett clinked his fork against his glass, causing several others throughout the room to do the same.

"My dearest friends," Carlisle said, projecting his voice to be heard around the room, "it is an honor and a privilege to have you all here with my family and I tonight. I want to thank you all for taking the time out of your hectic holiday schedules to spend an evening celebrating another wonderful year here at our favorite little project, aside from our children, of course." He shot a grin at Alice and Emmett while they snickered loudly. Edward was pretty sure he heard Marcus laugh from several seats away. He must be sauced. Henry giggled along with his father, turning him into a perfect blonde miniature of Emmett.

"I also want to take a moment to thank you for participating in one of our greatest dreams. Esme and I have always intended for the Emporium to be a place focused on community and family, and the reason we sell is to give back to the people who need it." Esme smiled and nodded along with his sentiment, her eyes glassy. "I'm incredibly proud to announce that we raised a record amount of money for the Children's Hospital from you all _and_ from our patrons, as well as all the gifts and toys we've had donated." He raised his glass. "So here's to you all, for making this Christmas the best one yet, not only for my family and I, but for all of the deserving kids at Seattle Children's. To the best batch of individuals I could have asked for to make this uniquely glorious group!"

"To Mr. and Mrs. C!" Edward heard Seth's voice ring out from Jake's vicinity.

"Hear, hear!" Bella piped in.

"To a fine place to work and an equally fine paycheck!" came Laurent's voice from somewhere to Edward's right.

"And to the people who sign them!" came Jessica from where Ben and Angela sat laughing.

"Did you guys rehearse this?!" Jake asked loudly, eliciting a few laughs.

"Okay, okay," Esme called out over her own chuckles, raising her own glass, "to all of us, doing our best to pass the time. Cheers, everyone!"

There was a loud chorus of "cheers" all around the room, and Edward grinned as he clinked his glass with his family's and Bella's before drinking deep to their good fortune.

Edward glanced over at the DJ, who nodded once, signaling he was ready. He stood and shot a wink at Jake, who in turn shot one to Ben, before glancing down at Bella and offering his hand.

"Wanna help me with something?" he asked, as the noise from the toasts died down and people began milling around to the bar and other tables.

Bella took the last sip of her wine, took his hand, and pulled herself up. "Does it mean I get to know your secrets?"

"Soon enough."

"Lead the way," she said, grinning as she allowed herself to be dragged off toward the piano.

Edward led Bella onto the piano bench and settled on the side farthest from the dance floor. As his fingers settled on the keys and played through a warm-up scale, Edward enjoyed the look of delight on Bella's face. She always loved it when he played. "Watch the dancing," he advised, but Bella didn't listen. She was too busy watching as he played the beginning of Angela and Ben's song, humming along to the melody.

"It's Angela's birthday today," she commented. "This is her and Ben's song. Is it for them?"

Edward nodded, but kept playing. The Fitzgerald tune was soothing, and he enjoyed playing it. Bella looked out over crowd and Edward followed her gaze to Angela and Ben, swaying on the dance floor, Angela beaming as Ben whispered something to her. "Ben calls her 'little lamb'," Bella said, and Edward heard the smile in her voice. "He hates the concept of Angela needing someone to watch over her. He calls himself a volunteer, not a necessity. But he thinks 'little lamb' is a cute nickname." She turned back to Edward. "I'm really glad she has him."

"Me too," Edward said. "She deserves it."

"You have no idea how much."

Edward winced. "Actually," he said, "I do."

Bella was silent for the next verse of the song. "How'd you find out?"

"Ben kinda blurted. He didn't mean to. It doesn't change anything. She's still my friend." Edward nudged Bella with his shoulder. "She's still just Angie. And Maggie is still Maggie. And I still care about them." He relished the grin Bella shot him. "Only now I want to commit a murder."

Bella giggled. "I'll help."

She leaned against his side, humming the rest of the song and looking out over the dancers to her friend. Edward watched Bella as the song ended, and Ben slowly dropped to one knee, and Bella's jaw dropped with him. "Holy shit," she whispered.

"Shhh," Edward said.

The rest of the crowd dancing started to notice Ben's posture, and quickly dispersed, giggling and whispering and clearly excited.

"Ange," Ben said, standing close enough to the piano that Bella and Edward could hear him clearly.

"Oh my God," Angela said softly, her face frozen in a shocked expression.

"You came into my life and made it better. You made me better. My world used to consist of myself, and my parents, and a few friends. It was small, and it was happy, but it wasn't whole. You, and Maggie, you make it whole. It's bigger and brighter and fuller and complete. At least, I thought so." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the infamous box. "I'll never need more than you and our daughter, but I want us to be a family in the eyes of God and the great state of Washington. I want your father to read me my vows. I want our life to be ours, fully and completely." He took a deep shuddering breath, as tears streamed silently down Angela's face. "So Angela Christine Weber, little lamb, will you marry me?"

There was one beat of silence, before Angela nodded so exuberantly she should have gotten whiplash, screamed "Yes!" and fell onto Ben, laughing and crying between kisses.

"Oh my God, you knew!" Bella accused him, her own tears falling freely as she slapped his arm.

Edward shrugged.

Bella rolled her eyes, before beaming and turning back to watch her friend get engaged.

Ben stood, bringing Angela with him. "Hey Jake," he said, causing Jake to head over with Maggie, who he'd collected during the dance, "I have another question for my other girl."

Angela watched, confused, as he took Maggie from Jake's arms.

"Margret Isabella Weber," he said, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead, causing the baby to giggle, "Mommy just agreed to marry Daddy," he said, grinning at her. "But I wanted to ask you if that's okay. And, I wanted to ask," he reached into his pocket and pulled out the papers that Edward had couriered to the apartment earlier, "if I can be your Daddy on paper just like I am in my heart." He handed the baby to Angela so that he could unfold and show her the adoption papers. Angela and Ben had already agreed on this, but he'd neglected to mention that their lawyer had finished the paperwork.

Bella made some sort of choking sound from her throat as she sobbed, and as Edward glanced around, a few of his own tears making their way down his face, he saw that damn near everyone in the building was crying.

Maggie stared at her dad, her inquisitive eyes assessing him as though she could understand the gravity of the situation. She reached out and pawed at Ben's face, giggling and gurgling out a few bubbles. Edward heard Henry giggle from where he stood with Esme. Angela stepped closer to Ben and Maggie used her new leverage to place a "kiss" (an open-mouthed gum, really) to Ben's nose. Angela laughed through her tears, before saying, "I think that's yes."

The room erupted in cheers.

Bella darted off the piano bench and tackled Ben into a hug, Angela laughing next to them. She popped up and joined a giant group hug between Angela, Jessica, Alice, Leah, Rosalie, and Sue (Leah's plus one because "why bring a date when you can bring your mom?").

Edward enjoyed the view of all these people he loved wrapped in joy for a few moments before he slipped off the bench himself to be with them.

*

Edward sidled up to Esme later as she sat watching Carlisle dance across the floor with Angela, who laughed at something he said.

"How's it going, Esme?" he asked, as her dreamy expression clouded a bit.

She glanced over at him, a small furrow in her brow, looking so much like his mother in that instant that it scared him. "It's almost perfect."

"Almost?"

Esme stared him down, her gaze penetrating and assessing. She ignored his question and instead asked one of her own. "What is it that you want, Edward? When you arrived, you were running away from something, but you haven't been running for a while since. Is it possible you weren't running away, but running toward?"

It was Edward's turn to assess now, unsure of what she meant. "Toward what?"

Esme smiled softly. "Your future. If you want it. So what is it that you want?" She reached over to clasp his hand in both of hers. "I can see that you're struggling. You're doing so well here, your work is exceptional, you have family, you have friends, and yet… it's like you're missing something crucial."

Edward's heart skipped a beat as he realized what she was implying. Maybe not directly, but Edward knew exactly what she was talking about, even if she didn't.

"So," she said, her eyes concerned, "what is it that you want?"

"Aunt Esme…" he started, then trailed off, his eyes trained on the floor. She was right. He loved everything about his life now. He never thought about Chicago, or what he'd lost, or the things he'd left behind. He only ever thought of the things he'd found, the people he'd gained. Edward's life was perfect, except for the one thing that he wanted more than anything else.

He'd struggled for so long with feeling like he wasn't good enough. Like she deserved more. And she absolutely did, she deserved the world, but no one on it was going to love her like he did, he was certain of it. Maybe that was enough.

And he was tired. He was so tired of pretending to be fine being Bella's friend, when he was pretty goddamn sure it could've been him and Bella getting engaged tonight and he'd feel nothing but joy at the situation.

"Edward," Esme said, her hand slipping into his, tugging so that he looked up at her instead of at his feet. "You know what it would mean?"

The way she was looking at him, her eyes so completely accepting, before they darted over his shoulder. He followed her gaze to see Bella dancing with Henry on her hip, getting twirled around the floor by Emmett.

Edward looked back at his aunt, to find her smiling at him knowingly. "You know what it would mean?"

Edward was absolutely floored. He'd wandered over to ask her if she wanted a drink, for God's sake. He wasn't expecting a goddamned existential crisis. Her indirect implications were now completely, absolutely direct.

But he didn't mind it all too much. Because she was talking way too much sense. So, he said, "Yes."

She beamed. "You know what's at stake?"

"Yes."

She seemed sad and elated all at once. She really was fulfilling the wise sage role right now. "You know how special this is?"

"Yes."

"So," she said, in the exasperated tone of someone tired of repeating themselves, "what. Do. You. Want?"

Edward's eyes drifted back to the dance floor, back to her, and he smiled. He looked back at Esme one last time. As he turned back to the dance floor, a million images rushed through his head. Bella, in the bar, smiling at him, the look in her eyes when she decided to kiss him. Her hair sliding over his fingers as he brushed it over her cheek. Her blush. Truth or dare in the park, chips in her hair. Swinging Henry around the room, his chest tightening as Henry shifted into a tiny brown haired boy with green eyes. Bella, grinning in her turtle socks and blushing when he talked about underpants. Bella, with her rose ring on her index finger and an imagined ring on her ring finger. Bella, in the glow of the chandelier. Bella in her Persephone costume. Bella, dancing with abandon at her last night of freedom bar crawl. Bella, standing in front of him now, smiling as she noticed him staring. Her head inclining ever so slightly, beckoning him.

"I'll get back to you on that, Esme," he said, already stepping forward.

"You do that." Her tone was amused.

What did Edward want?

To be the man Bella deserved. And the man that Bella deserved would never allow her to give up a job she loved for him. He'd never use the contract as an excuse because he was afraid. And he was. He was terrified.

Being afraid of a thousand potential outcomes didn't diminish the unbridled desire for one specific outcome. Not anymore.

He strode across the dance floor, eyes fixed on Bella as she handed Henry back to his father.

"Hey, Boss," Bella said when he reached her.

Edward reached out, tugging on a lock of her hair. "Come with me."

She looked puzzled, her brows furrowed, but she nodded, and that was all he needed. He headed for the stairs, dragging Bella behind him, being sure to check that no one was paying them any mind. They weren't, and when they were safely tucked between two credenzas, Edward stopped and faced her.

"What's up Doc?" she asked, grinning. It made Edward's heart ache. "Nice digs you've chosen. Did you bring me here to murder me?"

"I love you."

Bella's cheeks pinked up, but her expression didn't change. "I love you too."

"No," Edward said, reaching out to take her hands in his own. "Bella, I…" he struggled to find the words. Words weren't what he needed now, anyhow.

He pulled her forward, the electric tingles racing up his arms directly to his heart, as he stooped down ever so slightly to align their faces. His lips brushed against hers once, twice, a third time. "I… am so… desperately in love with you." With that, he let his body take over, and kissed her. His arms crushed her to himself so tightly he was almost scared she would break. Bella let out a small noise of surprise. Her lips were soft and yielding, until she suddenly took over, insistent and enthusiastic and perfect. Her arms circled his neck, her body got impossibly closer, her lips fused to his as though they'd been welded that way.

"Me…" she breathed out against his lips, unable or unwilling to move away. "Me… too… love with you… so much… Edward," she said. Edward froze, and Bella backed away. "What?"

"Say that again."

Bella beamed. "Say what?"

"You know."

"Make me," she said, snatching Edward's tie and pulling his lips back down onto hers. She kissed him, then, and Edward was immediately slammed back to that dark night at the bar, whiskey and tequila and Bella. She separated from him by a millimeter. "I'm in love with you, Edward Masen. I have been for a while and will be until you tell me to stop."

"Never." He kissed her with everything he had, desperately clinging to this woman he loved, who loved him, who was _in_ love with him. When they broke apart, he took her hand. "Let's go home."

"But what about-"

"Doesn't matter now," he cut her off. He silenced her with one final kiss. "That's a problem for future Bella and future Edward. Currently, we have plans."

Bella smiled and blushed from her cheeks down, all the way down the collar of her dress. "Take me home."

*

Hours later, deep into the night, Edward was laying beside Bella in the bed his Aunt had gifted him, her favorite piece of furniture in the store.

"Bella?" he whispered.

"Mmmm."

"I love you."

Bella giggled and rolled over to face him. He let his fingers travel down over her collarbone, across her shoulder, down her arm, to her waist, the curve of her hip, her thigh, where he hoisted it up and over his hip. "I love you too," Bella said.

Her thumb traveled over his cheekbone, down his neck, and Edward shivered. He brought his hand back to her waist to pull her back to him. Both of his arms circled her, keeping her locked up in his embrace. They'd have to deal with this tomorrow. They both knew it. There'd be yelling, and firings, and he'd probably get punched in the face.

Bella's lips trailed after her thumb, and when she reached the base of his throat, she bit down gently.

At which point he didn't much care about whether or not this was right. He cared only about body heat and connection and an exciting tingle coming from where his arm lay beneath her, losing feeling under her weight and sending sparks up arm to his chest.

 _Worth it._

*

When Bella awoke the next morning, Edward was ready for her. He had been up for two hours already, studying, and finding his solution.

It wasn't the only solution, but it was the one he wanted.

It was insane.

He hoped she went for it.

"Hey," she said, appearing in the living room in Edward's dress shirt despite the fact that she had plenty of clothing in the guest room. This was only adding to his conviction that his solution was the right one for his life, now and forever. "Where'd you go?"

"Had some errands." He shuffled the papers on the coffee table.

"At seven in the morning."

"Yes."

"Well," she said, heading into the kitchen for a coffee mug, "I hope you came up with a way for us to keep our jobs and also do _that_ every night from here on out."

"I actually did."

She poured her coffee, adding in her creamer and a generous amount of sugar. "Care to enlighten me?"

Edward took a deep breath.

"Isabella Swan," he said, stepping up to the kitchen entryway. "Will you marry me?"

And for the second time in his life, he'd made Bella choke on her coffee.

 _Fuck._


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**A/N: Wow, I love you guys. I basically disappeared and then dropped a bomb and no one was even mad. Thank you so so so much for reading my story, and no, this is not the end, I'm just feeling grateful. Please enjoy this piece of Edward and Bella's special day(s).**

 **Disclaimer: Owning Twilight is for suckers and millionares, and I'm neither.**

*

They were sitting in Emmett's office, stacks of paperwork in front of each of them, and Emmett seated across from them, looking furious. Edward had a bag of peas held up to his eye, and Bella herself wasn't exceptionally happy about it.

"Do you feel better about yourself now?" she asked Emmett, her tone dripping sarcasm and poorly-concealed vitriol.

Emmett didn't even bother to look the slightest bit ashamed. "Yes." He was direct and to the point, and Bella had never seen him be so cold to her.

Edward shifted in his seat. "We knew he was going to be angry," he said softly to Bella. To Emmett, he added, "But he has nothing to be angry with you over, Bella. This was all me."

While Bella knew the idea had been his, this kind of thing definitely required two to tango. "Edward, you don't have to-"

"No, I think he does," Emmett said, glaring at his cousin where he sat across from him. "Because he's the one with the authority and therefore the responsibility."

"We didn't even do anything wrong!" Bella shouted, exasperated.

Emmett's eyebrows shot up as he turned to Bella. "Oh really?" he asked. "Then start at the beginning, at that very morning, and you leave anything out and I'm going to know it."

"Why are you being so harsh?" Bella was pleading, but she didn't care. She wanted Big Brother Emmett back; Angry Disappointed Emmett was really making her feel terrible. "You love us, so why are you being such a dick about this? Can't you just be happy for us?"

"Because I love you." He turned to Edward. "I love you both. Too much to let you make stupid decisions like the one you made, because you're both too smart for this."

"Emmett…" Edward's tone was a warning. "Don't talk to her like that."

"I'll talk to her like that when she acts like this. She especially should have known better."

Bella's cheeks were red hot. "Both of you stop talking about me when I'm sitting right here."

Edward's hand drifted over and clasped Bella's. He squeezed, and Bella sighed.

Emmett scowled. "Start at that morning. I've already been informed of everything leading up to it. So don't tell me you didn't break the rules. I know that you did." He sighed deeply. "But I don't care right now. Tell me about this past weekend, and spare no details."

"No details?"

"You can leave out anything that will make me hurl."

"Good to know." Bella stifled a giggle at Edward's clarification.

"Shut up and tell the story."

"That's an oxymoron," Edward mumbled.

Emmett closed his eyes. "You're an oxymoron."

"Okay, I'm just gonna start, then," Bella said, cutting off what was sure to be a spectacular cousin bitch-fight.

*

Edward was patting Bella's back. Unlike Emmett, he checked on her after a few good whacks.

"So that's a no, I presume?" he said, his tone amused, but when Bella looked up his green eyes were sad. He was disappointed.

But to be honest, what the hell was he thinking? They'd literally told each other they loved each other, really and truly were in love with each other, less than twelve hours ago. And now he wanted to get married?

"What?!" she asked, her shocked tone and wide eyes betraying exactly how much his question had freaked her out. She hoped it concealed her ridiculous excitement. Her heart needed to calm the hell down, because brain was in charge now.

"I'm asking you to marry me," he said, his smile dulled by his sad eyes.

"Why?!" Seriously, the thought of him wanting to marry her was confusing the hell out of her.

Edward's smile widened. "Well," he started, holding up a hand to tick off his reasons, "our employee contract's non-fraternization clause does not apply to married couples. There are tax breaks involved. You could move in here. You'd be a legally official part of my family. My mother loves you, but my father loves you more. And, oh yeah," he held up his other hand and put up his thumb, "I'm in love with you, you're in love with me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want you to be my wife, I want to grow old and have babies with you, it would make me happier than anything in the world if I could spend my life making you happy."

Bella drifted lightly out of the kitchen and sank down onto the giant couch in his living room. Last night was the best night of her life, but this was… this was too fast. It had to be. Her heart was beating in overtime, and her cheeks were flushed, and she- good God she wanted to say yes. Hadn't she been wishing for a guarantee? This was that guarantee. A vow to love and honor and cherish, till death do they part. But… they'd only just begun. What if they got married and then got divorced just as quickly?

"How?" she asked. She was wondering exactly how well he'd thought this out.

Edward rushed out to his coffee table and knelt beside Bella, reaching out to snatch his laptop and show her the screen. "These are two round trip tickets to Las Vegas, leaving today. Say the word and they're ours. I've called my mother and father, and they'll meet us there if you say yes. I, uh," he scratched the back of his neck and Bella noticed the tips of his ears go pink, "I also called Charlie, and your mom and Phil." He smiled brightly. "He gave me his blessing after a _lot_ of explanation. I believe his exact words were: 'If you wanna marry my daughter and she wants to marry you, I ain't got nothin' to say but congratulations'. They'll all meet us if we ask."

"When?"

"Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday, as long as it happens before we go back to work, I don't care. I just really want to marry you." He seemed so earnest, his green eyes boring into hers.

"Where?" she asked. She needed to know what happened next, in as much detail as possible. She needed to slap herself, or pinch herself, or count her fingers or something to be sure she wasn't dreaming. She was pretty sure she wasn't, because Edward was never this prepared when she dreamed about this.

Edward pulled out his phone, bringing up a note to show Bella. "I've called a bunch of hotels. The weekend before Christmas is busy, but not impossible. They've all got openings in small locations for small ceremonies."

Bella sat still for a minute, sipping her coffee.

"Edward, I-"

"Before you say anything," Edward said, cutting her off, "I know it's fast, but I dated someone for years who turned out to be awful, and I've dated you for one night and I already love you more than I've ever loved anyone. And haven't we really just been dating without the added benefit of everything we benefitted from last night?" He waggled his eyebrows, causing Bella to snort into her mug. "Bella, this is what I want. I want to be your husband, I want to make you happy. If you say no, I'm just going to keep trying. I'll quit CFG, I'll find a new way to support you, I'll take you out every night, I'll get punched out by Emmett, and I'll ask you to marry me once a week at least."

"That's unfair." Bella let out a shuddering breath.

"I'm sorry, its just how I feel, Bella. I need to be with you, now and always, and I'll do whatever I have to do to make that happen." He squeezed her hands. "Because I love you."

"That's not what's unfair," Bella said, shaking her head.

Edward lifted one eyebrow. "What is, then?"

Bella's breath stuttered as her eyes clouded over with tears. "You're making me say yes. You've got all the answers, and I… I can't say no."

"Yes you can, Bella," Edward said. His tone was serious. "You're allowed to say no as many times as you need to. Just as long as you say yes one day."

"No I couldn't. Because you thought of everything, you planned an entire wedding, you have a bunch of plane tickets on hold, you called my _dad_ , you're sweet and kind and lovely and perfect and wonderful and good _lord_ last night will be burned into my brain until the day I _die_ , and because I love you so much." Bella felt her tears track down her cheeks. "Because now I don't want to say no." She wiped under her eyes. "I'll… I need Alice," Bella said.

"What?" Edward said, his smile fading as his eyes widened in shock. It was comical, and Bella gurgled out a giggle.

"I need Alice. I need her to come with us. And you should probably call the hotels and the airline and our parents." She looked down at his kneeling posture. "And you are kind of in the perfect spot to try this again."

"Bella, I-"

"Yes Edward?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're sure?"

"Don't try to talk me out of it right after you talked me into it." Bella smirked, and Edward's whole face lit up. He raised himself up to his knees and kissed her soundly, causing Bella's mind to cloud over a bit. She was about to tackle him from her higher position when Edward pulled away.

"No," he said, "you have to stay right there for this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring pop. "My mother has your actual ring for when we get there, but I wanted to make sure you had something, and I know blue raspberry is your favorite." Bella giggled as he unwrapped the package. "Bella Swan, you are my best friend. I know everything about you, and yet I know that I know nothing. Will you allow me to spend my life discovering all of your quirks, sharing all of your burdens, and supporting all of your endeavors? Will you be my wife?"

He was holding the candy up as though it were a twenty carat diamond. His face looked so hopeful, so joyful, that Bella's brain threw up its hands in exasperation as her heart whooped wildly.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I will."

*

"And then some things that would make you hurl happened," Edward interjected, shifting the peas so he was getting maximum cold to his sore eye.

"Skip it." Emmett grimaced and refused to meet Bella's eye.

Bella sighed before continuing.

*

"Hey, how are you affording all of this?" Bella asked as they sat in the first class lounge at SeaTac. "I mean, the managers make good money, but not 'last-minute-first-class-trip-to-Vegas-for-eight-right-before-Christmas' money."

Edward's ears went pink, but he didn't hesitate. "I dipped into my trust fund from Grandpa Masen."

"Edward!" Bella hadn't even known he had a trust fund, let alone that he was using it for their wedding.

 _Jesus H. Christ, my wedding. To Edward. I'm marrying Edward. I had sex with Edward. I had a lot of sex with Edward, and now I am marrying Edward._

She was having a lot of trouble coming to grips with this. Bella always did well once her decisions were made, and she'd definitively made this insane decision, so she was going to follow through, because that was always what she did. And she wanted to do this, miraculously enough. She was only having trouble with the fact that it was so easy for her to say yes. Bella always had reservations about marriage, having seen her parents' marriage dissolve, but then there was Carlisle and Esme, and her mom and Phil there to give her some hope. She knew it was possible, but she'd never expected it to be so easy. It was like the entire world fell into place the second she said yes, and she didn't even recognize it anymore. She barely even recognized herself, all giddy and excited and ready to be a wife. The actual wedding part was what freaked Bella out. Center of attention stuff was always her weakness.

Alice had been ecstatic. She'd called her own team lead and told her she was taking a few personal days, given her instructions, told Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rose that she was locking herself up to design away, and was now getting a Cinnabun as they waited for their flight. She felt absolutely no remorse for lying to her family, and was instead sketching dress ideas on a sketchpad she'd pulled out of her carry on. When Bella rolled her eyes at this, Alice had shrugged and said, "Whatever, I can totally alter an existing dress to look like my vision."

She was pulled back from her reminiscence by Edward's voice, explanatory but unrepentant. "We're going to be married by this time tomorrow. You should know about it."

Bella shuddered at the reminder of their impending nuptials. _Think of the marriage, not the wedding_ , she scolded herself. _What's important over what's frightening._

"We're going to be married by this time tomorrow; we should pay for it together."

Edward snorted. "We did. I took it from your half of the trust fund." He winked at her, but Bella's heart suddenly stared beating overtime.

They really hadn't thought this through. Hell, she didn't even know what his finances looked like, his medical records, his social security number, or where he wanted to live, or what he expected of her after this wedding.

"Edward…"

"Oh dear," Edward said, "I think I just watched you talk yourself out of this in the span of a few seconds." He reached out and tugged on a lock of her hair, and Bella smiled involuntarily because she loved that gesture. "Was it something I said?"

"What the hell are we doing?!" She couldn't help smiling at him as she asked it, because she loved him, and he was so understanding, and he'd already talked her down four times since she'd said yes. "I know I'm being difficult here, but if I die I want you to know where the coupons are."

"They're in the drawer next to the fridge above the trash bags."

"You know what I mean," Bella said, dropping her smile to give Edward an exasperated look.

"Considering we've watched that season of _Gilmore Girls_ four times in as many months, yes I suppose I do." He nodded gravely as he said it, and then sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Well… I have student loans. Technically when we get married, they're your problem too."

"I've been very fortunate, Bella," Edward said, taking her hand. "I can afford to take that hit to our credit, and while I know you well enough to know you'll want to take care of them yourself, you should know you'll never have to default on payments." Bella opened her mouth to object, but Edward put a finger over her lips. "No buts. You can pay for your student loans with all that crazy lawyer money, but don't worry if it isn't coming in soon enough. I love you, and I'll help you."

Bella's eyes narrowed. "How fortunate is fortunate?"

"Well," he said, scrunching up his face to think, "there's my trust fund from Grandpa Masen, and Grandma Platt paid for college, and my CFG salary is nothing to sneeze at… so, fortunate enough."

"That isn't an answer," Bella said, raising her brow.

Edward sighed, and leaned over to Bella, whispering a number into her ear.

" _Holy shit!_ "

"Bella, shhh!" Edward said, glancing around and smiling at the strangers looking concerned at Bella's outburst.

"And you never mentioned this because?" Bella's eyes were wide. What in the actual fuck did he think he was doing hiding that kind of money? He didn't even really need to work at CFG, to be perfectly honest.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Because you don't care about money, and I don't care about anything that you don't care about."

Bella's shock dissipated as her expression softened. Was he cute or what?

"What's your Social Security number?"

Edward shot her a bemused look. "Forty-two," he deadpanned. "Can we get married now?"

"Where are we going to live?" Bella countered, ignoring his question.

"I'd strongly vote against living with Alice."

"Do you want to keep your apartment?"

"For now, sure." Edward shrugged. "Until we decide together where to live, I don't see why not."

"Because I signed a lease with Alice?" Bella was worried about this most of all. Well, that wasn't actually true; she was worried about getting married to a man she'd dated for a day and it wasn't actually even dating so much as crazy awesome sex and beautiful love making most of all. The logistics of her apartment were up there though.

"What about our lease?" Alice asked, dropping down into the seat on Bella's opposite side and holding out her fork for Bella to take a bite of her gooey cinnamon mess of calories.

"I'm getting married tomorrow?" Bella said once she finished the deliciousness.

"Oh yeah," Alice said, taking a bite for herself. "Bummer."

"Love the enthusiasm, cous." Edward gave Alice a thumbs up.

"Shut up," she said, rolling her eyes and passing Bella the fork to hand to Edward. "I just meant cause we won't live together anymore," Alice said, turning to pout at Bella. "It's like the end of an era."

Bella felt her eyes get glassy, and her voice broke a little when she spoke. "Y-yeah," she said. "The end of an era." She took a deep breath, managing to hold it together. "You're okay with that? I'll have to cut out on the lease."

Alice nodded slowly, but her words were opposite. "No, I'm not okay. I'm…" and her own voice broke now as she glared at Bella, clearly pissed that she had started the emotion-fest. "I'm really going to miss you, but you have to live with your husband, you know?"

"Yeah," Bella said, a single tear escaping and sliding down her cheek.

"Don't you start," Alice warned, her own tears beginning to fall. "Don't you do this to me."

"I'm- I'm sorry," Bella said, her voice strained.

No more Alice in the morning, singing in the shower. No more Chinese food at lunchtime at their kitchen table. No more talking until they fell asleep in each other's beds. No more best friend on call at all hours. No more study break dance parties. No more getting pins stuck all over her as Alice designed something new. No more "Let's head to Alice and Bella's place." No more rosé and _Dance Moms_.

"No you aren't," Alice wailed, before engulfing Bella in a hug as both girls dissolved into sobbing, incoherent messes, trying to tell each other they loved each other and were going to miss each other but only managing to make squeaks and gurgles.

Edward's deep sigh cut through the noise of their emotion. "It's one floor away," he said softly.

"Continents, oceans!" Alice cried.

"Eons and lifetimes!" Bella said.

The intercom crackled to life and announced that first class was now boarding for Flight 357 to Las Vegas. "Thank God," Edward said, standing and reaching his hand out to pull Bella up with him. Bella gripped Alice's hand and pulled her up too, linking their arms together. "Seriously?" he asked, one brow raised.

"Hey," Bella said, "you're getting me the rest of your life; I only have one day left with Ali." Alice nodded alongside Bella and Edward just chuckled and gestured them forward.

As they passed him into the tunnel, Edward whispered. "The rest of your life, too," in her ear.

Bella shivered, before smiling back at him and sashaying her way onto the plane.

*

"So you flew all the way to Vegas, _and_ you got Alice to lie to us?" Emmett's eyebrow was high and judging her.

"Alice does whatever she wants," Bella said. "You know that."

Edward just scoffed. "He doesn't care, Bella," he said. "He's just trying to figure out all the ways we screwed up."

Emmett glared at him. "That's not true. I just need the full picture."

"Minus the parts that'll make you puke," Bella pointed out.

"Also known as my favorite parts," Edward said. "The story is so much less fun without them."

"Do you want me to hit you again?" Emmett asked.

"I gave you one, man, cause I deserved it. Try it again and it's going to go exactly like it did when we were kids."

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty!" Bella said, effectively distracting them both from their ridiculous machismo. "Let's get back to the story, please?"

*

Bella's parents, all three, had finally arrived at the Venetian. How did she know this? Because she could _hear_ them from her spot in the café.

"Wow! You know, we got married like three blocks from here," she heard Renee say, then heard Phil's laughter.

"Like mother, like daughter," Phil said. "Hey, should we be concerned that we've never met this Edward dude?"

"No, you should not Philip. I've met him. Good kid. Already asked for my blessing, and I gave it, so long as Bellsy said yes." He paused. "Crazy kid actually does take after you a little, Renee. She agreed to this, which I did not expect."

Bella rolled her eyes and stood, indicating with a head nod that she was going to go get them. Alice just grinned over her cup, shooting Bella a wink. She stepped out of the café into the lobby, and strode quickly over to the loudest group she could hear. "Hello, parentals," she said, alerting them to her presence. "Thank you for discussing my life extremely loudly in a public place," she added, giving hugs all around.

"Hi, baby!" Renee said, beaming at her. Bella looked like her mother, but had her father's coloring. If you aged Bella twenty years, colored her hair a lighter brown and her eyes blue, they'd be twins. Well, to the untrained eye, anyway. Their eye shape was slightly different, more Charlie than Renee on Bella's face.

"Hi, Mom," Bella said, smiling back. "I missed you."

"Ahw, Bella Baby!" Renee crushed her into another hug, squeezing her tightly, and Bella felt ten years old again, getting comforted by her mother when she needed it most. She breathed in, engulfing her senses in the familiar scent of her mother's perfume, and felt a significant amount of her anxiety melt away. Mom was here, Dad was here, Phil was here, they supported her. So it couldn't be too wrong to get married tomorrow, right? Right.

She felt a tapping on her shoulder, and reluctantly released her mom to face her dads, but when she turned she was greeted with another familiar face instead.

"Mrs. Masen!"

"Oh, for God's sake, you're going to be my daughter! Can we please stop the Mrs. Masen, crap?" she said, reaching out to embrace Bella as her own mother giggled.

"Okay, okay, fine!" Bella said, hugging her back. "It's good to see you, Elizabeth," she said when she pulled back to look at her.

"We really are going to work on the Lizzie thing," she said, giving Bella an eye roll to rival Bella's own.

Charlie and Edward Sr. were chatting about something or other behind Elizabeth, and she was flanked by both moms. Phil was just kind of existing, but thank God, Alice strode up and gathered them all to pass out their room keys.

"You look happy," Renee commented.

"She's luminous," Elizabeth added.

"Okay, okay, thank you, but knock it off."

They laughed at Bella's discomfort. "Elizabeth Masen, future mother-in-law," Elizabeth said, reaching out to take Renee's hand. "And that one over there is my husband Edward." She pointed him out.

"Renee Dwyer," Bella's mother said, smiling, and shaking Elizabeth's hand. "My husband Phil is currently giving my ex-husband Charlie over there a noogie." She waved her hand in the direction of Bella's dads. "Don't ask me why."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Your kid is insane," Renee commented offhandedly. "He must really like my kid, to do all this."

" _Your_ kid is insane to say yes to all this," Elizabeth countered. "It's a good thing I really love her, or I'd be questioning my son's sanity."

"You love my Bella?" Renee asked, grinning. "You've got good taste."

"As does Edward," Elizabeth said, shooting Renee a wink, causing her to burst out laughing.

"Oh, I like your in-laws, Babe," Renee said, pinching Bella's beet red cheek. "They've got hutzpah."

"Are we done embarrassing me now?" Bella asked.

A pair of arms appeared on her waist, pulling her back against a familiar frame. "Yeah, you guys are taking the term 'blushing bride' a little too literally." Bella turned her head to smile up at Edward, who grinned and kissed her forehead.

"Wow, look at them."

"I know; I've got a cavity."

Bella ignored Renee and Elizabeth and snuggled herself further into Edward's arms. He took the hint and tightened them, and Bella sighed.

"Hey, kid, I gave my blessing to _marry_ my daughter, not _grope her in public_ ," Charlie's voice rang out across the lobby, and Edward immediately took two steps back, causing Bella to pout. "Get over here and give your new father-in-law a hug. Mind you, definitely not the same caliber of hug you gave her, though."

Edward just chuckled and strode over to embrace Charlie, who patted his back only slightly too aggressively. He then shook Phil's hand, introducing himself to Bella's stepfather.

"Alright, your instagram doesn't do that man justice," Renee commented, her eyes trailing after Edward.

"Mom!" Bella said, as Elizabeth burst out laughing.

"Well, honey," Renee said, clearly unapologetic, "you're marrying a hottie, you should be proud!"

"I _am_ proud," she said, grinning slyly as she watched Phil describing something or other emphatically to Edward, "I'm just not _loud_." She shot her mother a significant look, and Renee had the good sense to look fake ashamed. Bella knew this was the best she was going to get. "Alright, everyone get settled, we'll all go to lunch in an hour or two."

They were having a late lunch here at the hotel before they went to do a quick rehearsal at the venue. Alice had tipped a concierge a hundred bucks to bring a sewing machine to her room along with several yards of white fabrics and lace. The entire place looked ridiculous. Once they finished checking out the venue, Bella and Alice would be taking the moms around to the shops to find something that Alice could suitably transform. Edward was in charge of entertaining the dads, a fact that amused Bella to no end. Too bad there weren't any places to fish on the strip. That was the only way Edward was going to please Charlie.

*

"Ironically enough, I did find him a fishing simulator at an arcade," Edward said, smiling over at Bella.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he loved it," Edward said. "We had a really good time that day, your dad and my dad got along so well."

Bella grinned. "Do I ever get to know what was discussed that day?" she asked.

"At my bachelor party?" Edward scoffed. "No way."

"Does it count as a bachelor party if you were with two middle aged men?" Bella gave Edward a side eye, her lips turned down disapprovingly.

"Did you guys forget I was here?" Emmett interjected.

Well damn. She actually had.

That was embarrassing.

Bella and Edward exchanged a contrite look.

"Never mind, don't answer that," Emmett said, shaking his head. "Just continue."

*

The girls were all out at dinner, buzzing over the venue and the dress purchase.

"It's not going to look anything like this when I'm through," Alice was saying, "We're just keeping the shape."

"The shape's my favorite part," Elizabeth said. "As I'm sure it's my son's too."

Bella choked on her water. "Oh my God," she whispered, as Alice and Renee guffawed loudly.

"Listen, as long as we're on the subject, what did you pack for tomorrow night?" Renee asked, completely ignoring the disgusted look on her daughter's face.

"Oh, don't worry, I got it." Alice giggled as she punched Bella's arm. "I knew she would be deficient so I snuck some things out of her room."

"Alice!"

"What?" she shrugged. "I know what's up."

"Your cousin!" Bella reiterated. "We're talking about your cousin!"

"Yeah, but I'm not thinking about him, I'm thinking about how hot you are in the navy silk twinset I got you last Christmas."

"Oh my God, you _packed_ that? Where did you even _find_ it?!"

"In a box labelled, 'No Sex in Three Years'," Alice said, grinning.

Renee and Elizabeth were both laughing now, and Renee actually wiped away a few tears.

"No sex in twenty-four hours, now," Bella grumbled. This only caused the women to laugh harder. "Yeah, yeah, yuk it up, you sickos. He's _related_ to two of you."

"Please," Elizabeth said, "I birthed him, I nursed him, I raised him. Him having sex cannot disgust me because I've seen him do far worse."

"Same, but at you," Renee said simply.

"I already told you, I'm thinking of you," Alice said.

"This does not comfort me."

They paid the check and headed back to their hotel, dress and accessories in tow. They piled into Alice's room, where Alice promptly shoved the dress over Bella's head and propped her up on a stool, attacking her with pins. The moms were raiding the mini bar and gossiping together. The room was full of the sounds of laughter and Bella's pained squeaks as Alice poked her with pins.

"Alice, did you try to schedule me for acupuncture or something?" Bella asked. She glanced down at her small friend, and was shocked to find her sniffling, eyes filled with tears. "Ali, what's wrong?" she asked, dropping down from the stool, ignoring the stabbing of the pins in the dress. She kneeled beside her bestie, rubbing her back.

"N-nothing's wr-wrong," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "It's just… You deserve to be so happy, Bells." Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "You're going to be a wife, and you'll have love in your life, and," she sniffed loudly, "God I'm just so _happy_ for you. You work so hard, and you make sure I stay alive, and you love with your whole soul…" She grasped Bella's hands in both of hers. Bella felt the warm trail of tears flow down her cheeks and she took a shaky breath. "You _deserve_ this."

"Ali," Bella croaked out.

"Are you two being buzzkills?!"

"Yeah, no crying!"

Bella giggled, and Alice laughed through a bubble of tears.

They spent the rest of the evening like a giant sleepover; Alice sewing the gown and watching cheesy movies, drinking the minibar dry and giggling so loudly Bella was sure that the boys could hear it back in their rooms. They fell asleep before Alice finished, and the sounds of the sewing machine lulled Bella into sweet oblivion.

*

"Will you swiftly be reaching the point, here?" Emmett asked, annoyance apparent in every line of his face. He looked older when he was angry, Bella noticed.

"You said leave nothing out," Bella reminded him.

Edward leaned his elbows on his knees. "And _I_ said not to talk to her like that."

"And _I_ said," Emmett started, but Bella threw her hands up in exasperation, cutting him off.

"Oh my God, _fine_!" she shouted. "We got married! That's it, that's the point, that's the punchline! We got married, and no one even died or objected. I know this seems like the Iran Contra situation to you, Em, but that's all that happened. We got up in front of a dude in a funny hat and collar who said, 'Do you?' and I said 'Yes'," she pointed to Edward, "and he said 'Yes' and now I've got this very nice ring and a husband!" She crossed her arms and sat back in the chair, leaving both men stunned silent. "Get over it," she grumbled.

"Love, maybe a _bit_ more detail than that?" Edward suggested quietly.

Bella huffed. "Okay fine, but I'm tired of his pestering. You tell it."

Edward grinned at her and leaned his elbows on his knees. "Gladly."

"Christ, this is going to take all day, isn't it?" Emmett asked.

Bella didn't respond, just sat back in her chair and waited for Edward to speak. She was actually looking forward to hearing Edward's account of their wedding day.

"Probably," Edward said. "Ready?"

"Come on then," Emmett said.

Emmett was not going to believe the wedding story. Even Bella had trouble convincing herself it was real. But she woke up with Edward this morning, in their bed, so she knew it was

Time for the hubby to tell all.

*

 **So, what's the verdict? Who wants to hear from Edward? And what's up with Emmett?**


	20. Chapter Twenty

**A/N: Hiiiiii... I KNOW. I know, I took forever. I'm sorry, here's an extra long one to make up for it! I hope you are all safe and well! This one is for goldengirlschildhood on the tumbles, who really helped me out by letting me vent my writer's block in spam form.**

 **Disclaimer: I own a new bed and a new TV which have both saved me during social distancing, but I do not own Twilight. Duh.**

 *****

"Okay, so you got married," Emmett said, shrugging. "How?"

"Well, there's a license involved, and a justice of the peace or a religious official – "

"Honey, I think he meant – "

" _Honey?!_ "

"Well, yes, we are married, you see, pet names come with the territory – "

"Just tell me about your fucking wedding, please?" Emmett was practically purple with frustration, and his tie was crooked. He looked close to deranged.

Edward opened his mouth to say some other sarcastic thing, but stopped when he felt Bella's hand on his knee. He glanced over to see her giving him a look that may as well have been "stop" written across her forehead. She tilted her head toward Emmett with a sympathetic look. Edward realized he was probably just as frustrated as they were. Although, Emmett hadn't been punched in the eye. Still, he could be more cooperative. He took a deep breath and nodded to Emmett.

"Well, that morning I took my dad down for breakfast."

*

"Young lady," Edward Sr. called to the waitress, "I've decided that this orange juice needs to become a mimosa."

The woman, tray in hand and smile affixed to her face, nodded. "Right away, sir."

Edward covered a laugh by coughing. "It's nine A.M, Dad."

"Yes, well," Edward Sr. said, pausing to sip his coffee, "it's your fault I have a hangover."

Unfortunately, true. They'd all decimated the mini-bar after several hours virtual fishing. Jesus, he was a dork. He'd had a veritable bachelor party with his father and soon-to-be fathers-in-law.

"Speaking of which," his father added, "what are all of these charges on my credit card?" He showed Edward his phone. "It looks like airfare."

Edward squinted at the information on the screen. He was right, they were airfares. Why would his father be paying for flights?

 _Shit._

Edward reached into his pocket for his phone, but got stuck trying to pull it back out, and his momentum propelled him out of his chair. His father started laughing at him while he struggled on the ground, finally wresting his phone free and dialing the first person from his call history.

Surprise, surprise, he didn't even remember calling him at 2:03 in the morning.

"Hey, fucker, what's up?" he answered.

"What did we talk about last night?" Edward was sitting on the ground, more focused on the call than righting himself or his chair.

"Jeez, no 'Hey how are ya, Jake?'"

"Hey, how are you Jake? What did we talk about last night?"

There was a pause on the line. "Wow, you really don't remember?"

Edward groaned. "Why else would I ask?" He reached over and tilted his chair back to the upright position, then used it as leverage to pull himself up.

"Because you like torment?"

"Irrelevant, man, what did we talk about?" He dropped back into his seat, and his father shot him an amused smile, clearly holding back from more laughter.

Jake laughed. "We talked about your fucking Vegas trip, man."

Edward breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Not as detailed as I'd like, but okay."

"Mostly we talked about you and your pops flying us out for your wedding."

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit._ Edward began to spiral. Who else had he called? Who else knew? Was he in for a world of disappointed looks and a potential haymaker to the face?

Jake was laughing his ass off on the other line.

"Fuck?!" Edward wasn't sure what he was asking, but it definitely came out as a question.

"Chill, man." Jake was still laughing, but he managed to calm down enough to speak. "You called me, and you told me to call Jess, Jas, Ang, and Ben. You were very specific, by the way, for someone who could not have been more trashed. Then you bought the tickets for us, and told me 'Shhhhhhhhhh' for about five minutes straight." Jake laughed louder, almost a bark. "And then you called me 'bro-chacho'."

Edward abruptly stood and paced back and forth. "So…"

"So, I know you're getting married, and Jess and Angie happen to have the next two days off, and Ben switched with Tyler. Jasper can do whatever he wants. And none of them know a damn thing, but they're coming."

Edward slumped into his seat next to his father. "Okay. Fuck, dude."

"Language," his father intoned.

"Yeah," Jake said, "I know. It's right though, you know?"

Edward was silent.

"Isn't it?"

"Yeah," Edward said, on an exhale. "It is."

"Alright," Jake said. "For a second there, I thought I was going to have to kick your ass."

"Okay, Jake, whatever, like you even could," Edward said. "When can we expect you guys?"

"Like, four hours?"

Edward grinned. Bella was going to be so happy. "See you then." They exchanged goodbyes and hung up. Edward turned to his father. "Well, disaster averted. I'll pay you back for the tickets."

"Not to worry son," he said, just as the waitress arrived with a mini bottle of champagne for his orange juice. "Thank you, dear," he said, popping the cork and adding a gratuitous amount of the bubbly to his glass. He and Edward shot her a simultaneous smile and she flushed as she backed away from the table, tripping over her shoes but recovering quickly. Edward Sr. turned to his son, still grinning. "Boy, have we got it in spades, or what?"

Edward just laughed.

*

"So, you took a bunch of my employees and got hitched?"

"Sort of," Edward said, leveling Emmett with a hard stare.

"Literally not at all," Bella said, giving Edward's shoulder a shove.

Emmett folded his arms and leaned on the desk. "Well, then, what did happen?"

"I'm getting to it," Edward said, readjusting his bag of frozen peas. His eye hurt, and talking this much was thirsty work. "Just need some water, or something."

Emmett sighed and got up, making for the break room water cooler.

Bella took a deep breath, reaching up to stretch out her back. Her shirt rode up appealingly, and her eyes drifted closed as a small noise of relief escaped her.

"Well, don't do that," Edward said, the bag of peas dropping down to the floor next to his chair as he watched his wife ( _his wife_ ) roll her neck and stand up to wander around her chair.

"Do what?" she asked, entirely too innocently.

Edward made a choked noise halfway between a growl and a squeak as she passed in front of him, stretching up once more and leaning slightly to the side, offering Edward a ridiculous view of not only the smooth skin of her waist, but the altogether obscenity of her ass in jeans. Without thinking about it he reached out, landing both hands on her waist and pulling her onto his lap before she could even squeal out a protest. His arms wrapped fully around her waist, and he rested his nose against the column of her neck, breathing in her scent. It was like medicine. His eye even stopped hurting for a second.

"You know exactly what you were doing, Mrs. Masen." He reveled in the slight shiver the traveled along her spine. She squirmed on his lap a bit, and Edward groaned. "Now you stop that before we make a scene in Emmett's office."

Bella giggled as Edward placed kisses along her neck. "Sorry Mr. Masen."

" _Gross,_ " they heard from the doorway, as Emmett returned with water for all of them.

Bella tensed, but Edward tightened his grip, preventing her from getting up. "Get used to it," Edward said, planting one last kiss behind Bella's ear before settling her more comfortably on his lap.

"Not at work, I won't." Emmett sat behind his desk, glaring.

"Store's closed, Emmett." Edward rolled his eyes. "And it isn't like I haven't seen Rose on your lap in the office."

"Not to mention," Bella added, "that none of us are clocked in. We're here voluntarily. Because we love you, I might point out." He felt her relax further in his grip, causing him to grin.

Emmett, apparently annoyed at the logic behind Edward's argument, and the fact that Bella had basically shut down any authority he had over the situation, just scowled. "Just drink your water," he snapped.

Edward obliged. "Ahhh," he said, once his water was gone, setting the empty cup on Emmett's desk. "Now, where were we?" He could almost feel Bella rolling her eyes at him, but he didn't care. She was stuck with him forever, after all.

"The wedding? I assume you planned to get to it eventually." Emmett said, studiously looking at his water glass instead of the couple occupying the chair. He couldn't tell if Emmett was angry or uncomfortable, and the throbbing in his eye told him he didn't much care either way.

Emmett was going to like what came next, anyway.

*

 _"Don't you think Bella would want them there?"_

He'd asked the question so innocently, completely oblivious to the utter turmoil his words had caused. They'd been discussing the gathering of their various friends from the airport, and Charlie had commented on the missing Cullens. He'd simply wondered if he'd be looking for them as well. When Edward had assured him that all was well, and that he was perfectly fine without them there (a lie, to be sure, but he figured it was a necessary one), Charlie had asked him.

 _"Don't you think Bella would want them there?"_

Then he'd driven off in the rental van to pick up their friends, leaving Edward flabbergasted.

He had already resigned himself to take this hit. To be the brunt of the jokes, to receive the sidelong glares, to carry the weight of the guilt. He was ready to make this sacrifice; to both want them there and to give up that joy for the sake of his wedding going smoothly.

Edward had been so consumed by action, because _she'd said yes_ , so he had to keep moving, keep pushing, keep making it happen. He hadn't stopped, hadn't thought, not since two nights ago when he'd woken well before the sun with Bella in his arms and known that he could never go back to waking up any other way.

 _"Don't you think Bella would want them there?"_

They were her family too.

Not just his, not just Alice's.

Bella's family.

He was prepared to sacrifice a lot for this, but he couldn't bring himself to sacrifice Bella's happiness. Not any small part of it. Not a thimbleful. Not a molecule. None.

Which is why he found himself pacing the hall outside of her hotel room, (their honeymoon suite, technically, but she'd stayed there with the girls last night) which Alice had dubbed "Bride Central." He was approaching and retreating, over and over, sometimes raising a hand to knock, sometimes not even bothering. He knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to make Bella upset.

He was on a downswing, stepping away from the door, when it flew open, revealing Alice in all her maid-of-honor glory. Her hair was pinned into waves across her forehead, awaiting heat treating or something, and her makeup was impeccable. She had some sort of silk robe on over her dress, and her arm was covered in color swatches, a clear sign that she had been doing other people's makeup.

"I'm sorry," she said, grinning at him. "Renee has been watching you through the peephole for a solid two minutes and we decided to put you out of your misery."

Renee popped her head into view from behind the door, "Hello, son!" she shouted, far too loud for eleven in the morning. She seemed to be taking the Edward Masen Sr. approach to wedding day, meaning the redness of her nose and the looseness of her smile were probably caused by an excessive abuse of champagne.

Edward grinned in spite of himself, but he was sure it looked sickly. He felt nauseous. "Is Bella here?" he asked. "Can I talk to her?"

Renee gave him a quizzical searching look, eyes slightly glassy, but she seemed to notice his distress anyway. "I'm gonna get Baby," she said solemnly, her lips pursed outward, giving her a distinct resemblance to a duck.

Alice glanced over at her before returning her attention to Edward. "Good idea," she called after Renee, never taking her eyes off Edward. "Turn around," she said to him, her eyes narrowing. "You're not supposed to see her day of." Edward obliged, and he could hear Renee yelling throughout the suite, trying to find her daughter. "What's wrong?" Alice asked Edward's back. "You don't have cold feet, do you? Because I'll have to murder you."

"No, Ali-Cat," he said, smiling at the wall in front of him. "I just need to talk to her." He shoved his hands gracelessly into his pockets to keep him from torturing his poor hair any further. He was sure it was sticking up wildly, which Alice was sure to be upset over, but he couldn't help it.

He heard Alice sigh. "I'm going to be mad after this, aren't I?"

Edward chuckled. "Not when I tell you what it entails."

There was a pause where all they heard was "Baby! Baby! Get your ass out here, there's a fine man waiting for you!" from inside the suite.

"What does it entail?" Alice asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Edward grinned at the beige walls. "Nope. Gotta talk to my betrothed first."

"I'm coming!" they heard Bella respond to Renee, before she burst into giggles. "Oh my _God,_ Mom, could you not?" Her voice was getting closer, ramping up the butterflies in Edward's stomach, making them flap in a frenzy. "Hey, Edward, what's up?" she asked, her voice as close as Alice's. "Why are you facing the wall?"

"He's not allowed to see you day of!" Alice said, her voice laced with exasperation. "I'll let you two talk, but just know, if you turn around, I'll know."

"Thanks, Alice!" Edward said, waving to her over his shoulder. He was rewarded with Bella's laugh. "Hey, love, how are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine," Bella said. "I woke up with Alice, instead of you, which was less than ideal, but I'm having a grand old time objectifying your butt right now."

Edward shook his behind for her benefit, inciting a peal of laughter from her. "I have a question for you." Her laughter died. "Nothing bad," he amended quickly.

"Okay," she responded, but he could hear suspicion in her tone.

Edward sighed. "If you could have a wedding. A real wedding. With planning and time and the whole nine yards, who would be your bridesmaids?"

There was a pause. "Why do you want to know?"

Edward shrugged. "Humor me, my love."

"Well," she said, and he could tell she was thinking, "Alice, obviously. Jessica. Angela. And… Rosie." She sounded sad, and it took everything in him not to turn around to give her a hug, to comfort her.

"You really want her here, don't you?" he asked. "And not just her, but Em, and Henry, and Esme, and Carlisle. You'd want them here. They're your family."

There was another pause, longer this time. "Isn't the whole point of this that you'll be my family now?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Bella Swan," he said, his voice stern, "I am absolutely going to be your family. Your husband, in fact, and today, considering the trouble I went through to get this" – he held up a small velvet box – "and this" – he held up a piece of paper, their Nevada marriage license, to be signed at the chapel, "but I don't want you to think that means you have to give up your other family."

Bella sighed. "But we agreed that it was better if they weren't here for this," she said, and the sadness was back.

"I lied," Edward said, "I have one more question." He tucked the box and the paper into his pockets, keeping his hands there. "What's more important: the wedding or the marriage?"

"The marriage," she said, with no hesitation. God, did he love her.

He grinned at the wall. "So, let's just do the one. I can cancel all that crap, we can get married, start our lives, and then plan a wedding. They can be there, all of them, and we still get what we wanted, which is to be together, no restrictions, no doubts, just you and me, forever." His hands made their way out of his pockets of their own accord. "I know, I dragged you out here, hell, I dragged our friends out here, and our parents, and we were supposed to have better than a Vegas wedding, but, Bella," he sighed, "I know you want your whole family there."

The pause was the longest yet. He stood absolutely still, as if any movement on his part would cause the entire thing to fall apart and she'd bolt, realizing that the entire thing had been a terrible idea in the first place. Really, who got married after having sex one time?! Hell, who married someone they'd never dated?! Edward knew it didn't matter, that he loved her, that he'd rather literally die than be away from her, but Bella was far more rational than he was, and smarter to boot. What if this was too much?

He felt a weight settle on his shoulders and her arms appeared in his vision. She'd jumped onto his back, embracing him tightly. He stumbled, but only for a second, before he took hold of her arms, hugging her back awkwardly. Edward felt like the little spoon, but standing up. She kissed his neck, and he could smell the strawberry scent of her shampoo as her hair fell over his shoulder.

"Whoa," he said, "I'll take that as a yes?" He gripped her arms tighter, clinging desperately.

"Yes," she whispered in his ear. "So, I've always been curious about the drive through chapel."

Edward laughed. "Sure. Who do we take?" They'd need witnesses, after all.

"Moms. Seems appropriate." She was still suspended on his back, and he desperately wanted to flip around, to really show her his appreciation for her being so accommodating. Hell, to show his appreciation for her continued insanity in agreeing to marry him, really.

"Okay," he said, as she slid down his back to the floor. "You tell them, I'm going to make some calls."

Her arms slid down to circle his waist. "Oh no," she said. "You get to tell Alice."

"Well, fuck."

Bella's laugh drifted off as she left him standing in the hallway, contemplating how to break this news to Alice.

"Babe!" he heard her say from somewhere in the vicinity of the doorway, and he resisted the urge to turn around.

"Yes?" He shoved his hands back in his pockets, trying to physically anchor himself to the spot in the hallway.

He heard her step closer. Felt her breath on the back of his neck. She must be on her tiptoes. "Thank you," she said, and he felt her forehead hit his upper back in what he could only describe as an affectionate head-butt. "Something had been bothering me, and I couldn't tell what." She pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades, which caused an utterly embarrassing shiver to travel down his spine. "They should be there if I have a wedding. But I could marry you on a random Wednesday with a drunk minister in sweats and I'd still be happy."

 _Well,_ Edward thought, _officially, fuck tradition._

Then he spun around and kissed his bride so soundly he was pretty sure that later he'd have to make some cosmic deal to top it for their first kiss as husband and wife.

*

"Okay that definitely sounds like it's heading toward something disgusting that I don't want to hear," Emmett said.

Edward shrugged, and Bella let out a giggle.

"I feel like you're missing the most important part of that section," Bella said, laying her head on top of Edward's.

Emmett assessed them. "No, I'm not." He heaved a great sigh. "Look, I'm glad you decided to wait on big wedding stuff until we could be there." He took another sip of his water, his expression unreadable. "How'd Alice take it?"

Edward barked out a laugh. "I explained she could plan the wedding."

"I explained she could design the dress," Bella interjected, raising her hand like she was in school. "She was fine after that."

"It was scary before then, though," Edward said. "My life flashed before my eyes." He shuddered. "She came at me with fabric scissors. And when she found out I'd seen Bella…"

Bella burst out laughing. "She tackled him. It was horrifying."

"The Cullen siblings keep kicking my ass," Edward grumbled.

Bella kissed the top of his head and he smiled, his frustration immediately assuaged. Damn, having a wife was cool.

"So, you guys got married in a car?" Emmett was staring Edward in the eye, and he looked like he was actively trying not to smile.

Bella nodded. "Yep. Some dude leaned out of a window, us, my mom, and his mom signed the license, we said 'I do', and poof!" she gestured like a magician. "Married."

"Bet you feel pretty silly for punching me now, huh?" Edward ventured, raising the brow that didn't hurt like a bitch.

Emmett's own eyebrows raised. "No, I'm still solid on that one," he said. "I can't believe you fell in love with one of my best friends and didn't tell me, or come to me for advice, or help." He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

Edward's jaw dropped. "We're not allowed to fraternize with employees!"

"Yeah, Gronk, you kinda had us backed into a corner, there," Bella intoned, completely serious.

Emmett leaned forward, placing his head in his hands. "Yeah," he said. "Except, you both should've known me better than this." He sighed. "I had one slip up. _One._ " He held up a finger, waving it emphatically. "I had one outburst at a guy I was sure had ruined the life of a kid I'd hired, who deserved better." He leaned even farther forward in his chair, letting one hand grip his hair. "But _he_ wasn't my cousin, and _she_ wasn't Bella. You had to know it'd be different for you."

"We really, really, didn't."

"Remember my first day?" Edward asked. "I've never seen you look so angry as you did when explaining that policy."

"I literally watched you throw Eric's severance at his head. And by severance, I mean your stapler." Bella's voice got quieter as the sentence went on and Emmett gave her a sardonic look.

Emmett just rolled his eyes. "Look, I get it." He rested his elbows on the desk. "I'm mad at myself, really. The fact that I somehow fucked this up for you guys is killing me."

"Then why'd you hit me?!"

"Because you defiled my baby Bella and ran off to Vegas and married her and you did that all without me ever hearing a damn thing about it." Emmett pointed at Edward. "You had that one coming."

Edward shrugged. "Fair."

"So, what did you tell the others?"

Bella giggled and Edward grinned.

"After the wedding," he said, "which we did in an hour before Charlie even got back with those yahoos," – cue Bella's laugh – "we decided to just hit the town."

*

Edward hadn't given Bella her ring yet. He wasn't planning to until tonight, despite the fact that they were, after a twenty minute car ride and a fifteen minute ceremony, married.

Holy shit, he had a wife.

Anyway, he had the ring, it would just become blatantly obvious for his wayward employees that something was up if she had his Grandmother Masen's diamond ring on.

That being said, he was already wondering when he _could_ get away with giving it to her. He'd sent his mother out to get wedding bands from one of the hundred shops on the strip. She'd taken Bella's ring size (because for some inexplicable reason she already knew Edward's), Bella's mother, and Edward's father's credit card, and the two women set off for a "shopping spree." Edward had to remind them twice that they had to get the rings, and he still wasn't sure they'd manage to come back with them. Before they'd left, Elizabeth had confirmed that Grandma Masen's ring would already fit Bella, which was a happy coincidence he was trying not to attribute to fate. He was failing miserably, and it was making him incredibly sappy.

He'd have to wait for the mothers to return then, and God knew he'd be out half the night entertaining their friends and making sure Jake stayed quiet. Edward and Bella had decided that enough people knew about the marriage already, and they could tell everyone else when they returned home.

Speaking of the marriage, Edward had also been enjoying taking full advantage of his new role as husband (three times) since he'd first seen Bella in her "wedding" dress. Alice had done an amazing job on it, creating a full skirt out of tulle with shimmering lace on top stretching up the bodice to her sweetheart neckline, with dainty little off-shoulder sleeves that reminded Edward of her Persephone dress. She was radiant.

"Alice will make something better for the real wedding, she already said so," Bella had said.

"You look perfect," he had replied.

It was perfect. It was the perfect wrapping on his Christmas gift, which he'd gleefully removed about twelve seconds after they'd made it back to the hotel room.

Alice had shown up an hour later, banging on their door. Bella had ignored Edward's groan of protest, kissed his nose, and put her robe on before striding out of the bedroom to answer. Alice wasn't bothering to stay quiet, and Bella hadn't closed the door to the bedroom, so he heard them very clearly.

"Dress," Alice demanded, "now."

"Great to see you too, Ali," Bella said, giggling through the words.

Alice heaved a deep sigh. "Bella, I am very kindly not commenting on the robe or the sex hair, so if you could kindly give me your dress and my sewing supplies?"

"Why?" Bella asked, but he could hear her voice heading toward the other end of the room, where he knew for a fact the dress was laying across the couch, thoroughly rumpled.

"I'm going to shorten and de-fluff the skirt so you can wear it out tonight, duh."

There was a pause where he could practically _hear_ them hugging.

"Yes, yes, you're very welcome," Alice said, "now gimme."

Bella had given Alice what she wanted, and then come back to bed to do whatever she wanted to Edward.

Not that he minded in the slightest.

Charlie had returned with their compatriots, who were settling into their own room before they met up. The current plan was to meet up at the Canal Shoppes to wait for sundown. Then it was party time.

"Hey, hon?"

Edward wandered into the bathroom when Bella called, needing help with her necklace. Since they were planning to change for the night later, she was in high-waist shorts and a plain t-shirt, looking far better than she had any right to. Her hair was up in a bun at the top of her head that looked effortless, but that he knew had required quite a bit of attention. He'd watched her achieve it several times. He couldn't tell if he was upset at the loss of her hair or excited about the ready availability of her neck.

She handed him the necklace and turned around. And because her neck was _right there_ , and she was _his wife_ , and he loved her, excitement won out and he leaned down to kiss the place her shoulder met her neck before he did anything else.

Thirty minutes, fixed hair, makeup over some of the places Edward had been a little too enthusiastic, and a necklace finally affixed later, they maneuvered their way into the shopping center, scanning for their friends. Of course, the hooligans found them first.

"Bella!"

His wife's ( _his wife's_ ) head spun, trying to locate the source of the sound, and Jessica slammed right into her, crushing her in a hug.

"Have I told you how much I love that you're friendly with the boss? Because goddamn I love that you're friendly with the boss." She gestured around. "I mean, hello?! Vegas, baby!" She let go of Bella and gave Edward a quick glance. "Hey, Edward."

"Hello, Jess," he said, but she was already dragging Bella back off to wherever she had appeared.

Edward sighed, but followed dutifully.

They arrived at a table along the canal where all of their friends were seated, apparently playing Never Have I Ever, _again_.

"Don't you all know everyone's dirty secrets by now?" Edward slid into a seat next to Ben, across from Jake. Jasper and Alice were next to Jake, sharing a chair. Ironically, Jessica had similarly pulled Bella down onto her lap and they were eagerly discussing whether or not to get a gondola ride.

"Not all of them, Boss," Jake said, shooting Edward a shit-eating grin and raising his brows. Edward glared. "Beside that, we were just passing time." He slapped Jasper's knee, and the Southern gentleman disengaged from eating Edward's cousin's face long enough for them both to catch his next statement. "Let's go!"

They all set off, the girls darting in and out of shops, reappearing with bags. They almost lost Bella in the one bookstore along the canal, where she disappeared for a frightening twenty minutes. Alice and Jessica were so laden down with bags that they'd foisted them onto Jake and Jasper, who looked only moderately miserable in return. Edward himself was happily carrying the various tchotchkes, books, and clothes that Bella had purchased, having offered to do so from the outset.

He sidled up to Ben as the wandered. "Where's Maggie?" he asked.

Ben smiled at the mention of his daughter, and Edward had a supremely soft moment where his heart warmed. "She's staying with Mrs. Clearwater."

"That was nice of her," Edward commented.

Ben scoffed. "Please. She'd keep her forever if we didn't insist on taking her back."

Edward laughed with Ben, grateful for his company. "So," he ventured, almost timidly, "you and I should be the adults tonight, right?"

Ben just rolled his eyes. "Ange almost never gets to cut loose. This one's on me. Anything in particular I should look for?"

Edward rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhhh…" How to put this delicately? "Jacob and Alice might spout some nonsense after consumption of multiple alcoholic drinks."

Ben gave Edward a sidelong glance. "That nonsense wouldn't have anything to do with the reason you and Bella were already in Las Vegas, would it?"

Edward's tongue pressed into his cheek as he surveyed Ben. "Shut up," he said.

Ben just laughed as they all continued shopping, stopping for gelato, and making wishes in the fountains.

Jacob insisted on leading the charge as the sun set, wandering down the strip and avoiding men handing out pamphlets for nudie shows, drunk people prone to puke or stumble, and what had to be several literal, actual showgirls. He walked along intently, a man on a mission, until he stopped suddenly, causing Jessica to run smack into his back. Their bags had been stowed away in rooms, and they were all dressed to kill. (And Edward had been able to retrieve the package he'd been waiting for, with an excess of gratitude and love to the moms.)

Alice had texted Edward to wear the Oxfords she'd packed him when they'd changed, and he didn't know why until Bella stepped out in her modified dress, completed by the same Oxfords she'd worn to the Christmas party.

"We match again," he'd said.

Bella laughed, and Edward had to catch his breath. Jesus Christ, Alice had done a good job on that dress. The skirt hit mid-thigh and the gauzy, shimmering lace somehow clung to her backside while managing to be looser on the legs, the way he knew Bella liked dresses to fit.

"Let's celebrate," she'd said.

Unfortunately, Jake had not gotten the memo that they were all ridiculously overdressed for his current fixation.

"Circus, Circus?" Alice asked from her perch on Jasper's back. (Funnily enough, six-inch heels hurt after walking all day, who knew? Certainly not Ali.)

Jake beamed at them all. "It's great, right? There's a fucking roller-coaster in there!"

"Jake," Jessica said, "I let my tits out, I'm planning on clubs."

Bella, who had been staring up at the domed building, suddenly spoke up. "I like it. It'll be like Dapper Day at Disneyland."

Angela took Bella's arm and nodded. "I never get to ride roller-coasters. I have a baby." She used her grip on Bella to start dragging her to the entrance.

Jessica huffed, then followed, calling back "You're buying me _so much_ liquor," to Jake.

"Giddy-up, Cowboy," Alice said, kicking Jasper in his rib.

He doubled over. "Jesus, _fuck_ , Ali-Cat – "

"Less talkie, more walkie."

Jasper stalked off, muttering under his breath and purposefully jostling Alice around on his back. Edward turned to Jake and Ben.

"Let's get those losers drunk," Edward said, "and then onto something that applies g-forces to them."

The inside of the casino was chaos. Drunk adults and screaming children were everywhere, playing games and sitting at bars. Jasper had not put Alice down, and she was yelling at him to drop her while he resolutely did not listen. Jessica, Angela, and Bella had all managed to find a bar, at which the bartender paid them entirely too much attention, what with them being the only patrons not in t-shirts. Edward made his way over and handed Bella his credit card, telling her to start a tab and tugging on a lock of her hair. What he'd wanted to do was kiss her, but they were still pretending, for now.

"Jake's too poor to fund Jessica's consumption habit," he told her, and she grinned and handed the card over to the bartender.

"It's us, those two guys," she pointed at Jake and Ben, "him," she smacked Edward's chest, "and the incredible two-headed wonder over there," she concluded, pointing to Jasper and Alice, the former of whom was running headlong across the floor, deftly maneuvering around the other patrons.

The bartender looked over, and his expression shifted to concern. "Can you make them – "

 _Crash_. Something behind them toppled, and they studiously faced forward, refusing to acknowledge it.

"They're fine," Jess said, sitting up straighter. The bartender immediately zeroed in on her cleavage, which even Edward had noticed was ample tonight, and smiled.

"Yeah," he said, "you're probably right…"

"Jess," she supplied his silent request, giving him a huge smile. "We're going to wander, okay? Don't forget us, though, we require much from you."

His eyes widened as she got off the stool, revealing a scandalous amount of her legs. "O-okay," he stammered. Good Lord, she was good. He waved until long after he should have, and Edward could see several others sitting at the bar demanding his attention as she wandered off with the other girls and their drinks to collect Alice from Jasper.

Jake leaned over the bar and yanked the bartender's hand down. "I know, pal, I know. I also know I require two Jack and Cokes, and two ginger ales."

He got busy making the drinks, only glancing up at Jessica a couple of times.

Once the men were in possession of their drinks, they set out for debauchery.

At which point, everything went to shit.

Jessica and Jake were extremely close to assaulting the man running the ring toss booth, and she was somehow on his shoulders, reaching for a prize hanging from the top.

"Give me that!" she kept screaming.

"You didn't win it!" the man argued.

"But she wants it, dude," Jake responded.

And on and on it went.

Alice, Angela, and Bella were thoroughly trashed, which was not doing them any favors at the shooting gallery. Alice's shoes were missing, and Bella was giggling every time she shot. She was shockingly good, upsettingly good for being drunk, until he remembered her father was the chief of police. Angela had shot the roof of the booth, and promptly collapsed onto the ground in a fit of hysterical laughter. The girl running it looked consummately bored, as if this shit happened to her every day. It probably did, now that he thought about it.

Jasper was somewhere around here, but they had to be careful, because he kept jumping on Ben and Edward at random intervals, screaming "Eeeeeeeeaaaagleeeee!" Edward knew showing him _Scrubs_ had been a bad idea.

The worst part?

They'd only been here approximately fifteen minutes, in which time most of them had managed to consume three drinks and an indeterminate amount of shots.

It also meant:

"Edward!" Bella called, holding a large stuffed dog from the shooting gallery. "Help me find the bathroom!"

"Me too!" Angela called.

"Me three!" Jessica yelled, jumping off Jake's shoulders and managing not to face-plant by the skin of her teeth.

"Okay, ladies, follow the ginger!" Bella yelled.

Edward scoffed. "I'm not ginger."

"Yes, you are."

"He really is, huh?" Jessica supplied.

"I mean," Angela said, "it's more bronze-y."

"What is bronze?" Bella asked. "Orange-y-gold." She reached up and grabbed Edward's hair. Not painfully, but with some weight behind it. "Orange-y-gold hair is ginger in my book."

"Well, shit, she got you there."

Edward shook his head and started following signs for the restroom. "I guess," he muttered.

"Hey, how come he's so nice to you after you just outed him for being a creepy ginger?" Jessica stage-whispered.

"We're married," Bella stage-whispered back.

Edward stopped short, causing Bella to crash into his back. "Ow," he heard her say.

The sound of a laugh escaping through pursed lips emerged from Jessica, and Angela's light giggle joined in. "Yeah, right," Jessica said on an exhale. "Now hurry up, I gotta pee!"

At some point, everyone decided it was time to ride the roller-coaster, and they waited patiently in line, sort-of.

"Holy shit, those two are having sex!" Angela yelled, pointing at a couple just barely hidden behind a pillar.

"Well, really, it just makes sense," Jacob was saying. "If you want a boutique it's going to be hard, but you've got the goods. Look at Bellsy's dress!"

"I know," Alice said, waving her hands. "I'm just worried about making _enough_ clothing to fill a shop."

Jessica's camera was out and she was filming the amorous couple behind the pillar.

"Yeah, but you could always get guest designers," Bella pointed out, surprisingly clearly for a person with seven drinks in them. "You have all those old friends from school."

"Sir, that is _not_ right!" Angela said, cringing at something behind the pillar that Edward was very pointedly ignoring.

"That's a great idea, honestly," Jasper said.

They really were having an incredibly coherent conversation for a woman without shoes, a man with a tie around his head (what a cliché), a perfect drunk woman (Edward had made sure she kept her shoes on and that her hair remained in place, because what else were husbands for?), and a man who had his hair in several braids (Jessica had been "booooooooored").

"Mister, if you could just shift to the right?" Jessica called out to the couple. "I'm trying to go viral!"

"Next?"

"Thank. God." Edward ushered them all forward as Ben gave the man their tickets. "Come on, Jess, let the nice couple get arrested on their own." They all managed to get onto the ride, and Edward sat next to Bella, excited at the prospect of being out of their friends' sight just a bit. "Hi," he told her.

"Hi," she said, entwining their fingers. "Don't let me puke."

"Not really up to me."

"Well, sh – "

And they were off, whizzing and screaming and turning and twisting all over the dome.

"Jesus H. Cock-sucking Macy!" Jessica was shrieking, and he was positive that people could hear her on the ground.

Jacob was laughing hysterically, and Jasper was, what else, repeatedly screaming "Eeeeagleee!"

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck, oh God, oh shit, oh fuck," Bella was muttering at his side, unending. He squeezed her hand and she stopped for a second, beaming at him. Then they dropped twenty feet and she started right back up as if she'd never stopped.

Angela and Ben were suspiciously silent, and when they got off the ride, Edward found out why. The photo of their cars revealed that they had been passionately making out the entire time.

"Oh yeah," Alice said, pointing to herself on the image, "I was watching that."

"Look at this aerial shot I got of Sir-Humps-A-Lot," Jessica chimed in, showing them a blurry photo on her phone of two amorphous shapes.

"Okay, it's officially bedtime," Ben said, causing Angela to giggle. "Move out!"

Jessica and Jacob grumbled, but followed Ben out. Alice hopped back onto Jasper's back, and Edward and Bella wandered back to the bar to close his tab.

"A bar again," Bella commented as they waited for his receipt.

Edward nodded. "You know what?"

"What?" she asked, smiling up at him.

He pulled the small box out of his pocket. "This is the perfect place to do this." He opened the box, revealing Grandma Masen's ring, along with their matching bands, which his mother had made sure went well with the diamond one. "Bella Masen," he said, which made Bella giggle, "I don't know what happened in the universe that made you kiss some guy at a bar, but I do know that my life is better for it. And not just better, but, honestly, perfect. You have my heart, my soul, my name. Now I want you to have this." He slipped both rings on her finger, then quickly put on his own.

He hadn't expected the euphoria of wearing the metal band that declared to the world that he belonged to someone. It rushed over him, leaving him grinning like a doof at his own hand, before he glanced over at Bella, doing the same thing. The sight of _her_ rings, however…

They were kissing before he'd realized he moved.

Only this time, he'd been the one to kiss the pretty girl in the bar.

*

"I did it too early," Edward told Emmett. "We had to hide them all the way back to the hotel, and then we both had to get everyone else to their rooms before we could go back to ours."

"Too eager," Emmett commented. "I can relate."

"Emmett," Bella said, her tone sarcastic, "you didn't give Rosalie her ring until three weeks after proposing."

Emmett waved her comment away with a hand. "Yeah, because I was too eager to ask and forgot to get one," he said. "Not to mention, I punched my cousin in the face and yelled at my best friend for about an hour earlier."

"We did break the rules," Bella said. "At Halloween, we kissed. And you know, after the Christmas party…" She squirmed a bit. "You get the idea."

"Yeah," Emmett said, leaning his elbows on the desk. "I'm not too happy about that, but honestly, I'm more upset that neither of you trusted us enough to tell us the truth." He sighed. "I swear to God, Mom already knows, though."

"She does," Edward said. "She basically told me to go for it."

Emmett smacked his forehead with a resounding _thwack_.

"Of course she did."

Bella giggled. "If it makes you feel better, your wife told me to look all I wanted, but not touch, because you'd kill us."

Emmett's hand was still over his face. "It does not."

"We really are sorry," Bella said. Edward poked her in the side. "Well, _I'm_ sorry. I know you. I should have told you how I was feeling but… I wanted to be sure."

"And by the time we were sure," Edward said, "we were married."

"Which is fucking insane, by the way."

Bella turned to lock eyes with Edward.

They shrugged.

"We know," they said in unison.

Emmett sighed. "I'm sorry I flew off the handle… this just… sucks." He finally removed his hand from his face. "Being last to know about something that's going to make our family so happy. Feeling like you couldn't trust me. Knowing you were right not to." He took another deep breath. "I promise, I'm really happy for you guys, I'm just also mad at you both, and fucking livid with myself." He pulled two sheets of paper out of a file. "This is your workplace romance claim. Sign it, and then get out so I can continue with the flogging of my own psyche."

"I didn't know you knew the words 'flogging' or 'psyche'."

"Shut up and sign."

They did, and Emmett took them back. "I now pronounce you exempt from the fraternization clause."

Bella beamed over at Edward, who smiled back. He had a wife. He had a shiner, too, but the first was more important.

"Come on, man," he said to Emmett. "It's Christmas Eve. Let's go back to Esme and Carlisle's."

Emmett leveled him with a stare.

"Don't ruin Christmas any more than we did, please," Bella pleaded.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Fine."

He strode out of the office, leaving Bella and Edward to follow.

"Ready, Mrs. Masen?" he asked her.

She got up on her tiptoes, a sign he'd quickly acclimated to, and he put an arm around her waist. Her lips met his, soft, sweet, loving. She sighed when she pulled away. "Now I am, Mt. Masen," she said, grinning as he reached over and tugged on a lock of her hair.

*

 **A/N: Oh, hey it's time to review! Thanks far waiting guys. Love you!**


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